US students walk out of class to protest gun violence

Students walked out of classrooms across the United States on Wednesday, waving signs and chanting their demands for tighter gun safety laws, joining a movement spearheaded by survivors of the deadly shooting spree at a Florida high school last month.

Here’s glimpses from the event. 

The #ENOUGH National School Walkout began with 17-minute walkouts planned at 10 am in each time zone, commemorating the 17 students and staff killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 14. The massacre was the latest in a series of shootings that have plagued US schools for nearly two decades.
Photograph: Joe Skipper/Reuters

More than 3,000 walkouts were planned across the country and around the world, organisers said. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Organisers of the protest accused the US Congress of failing to tackle gun violence adequately. They held posters reading 'How many more' and 'protect kids, not guns.'
Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

The walkouts are part of a burgeoning, grassroots movement that grew out of the Parkland attack. Some of the survivors have lobbied state and federal lawmakers, and even met with US President Donald Trump, to call for new restrictions on gun ownership, a right protected by the Second Amendment of the US Constitution.
Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

"We don’t feel safe in schools anymore," Sarah Chatfield said. A 15-year-old high school student from Maryland, Chatfield had joined a crowd of hundreds protesting outside the White House, with some sitting silent with their backs turned. Photograph: Andrew Kelly/Reuters

Students in some areas have organised marches, letter-writing campaigns and rallies with speakers, taking up part or all of the school day.
Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

The coordinated walkout was organised by Empower, the youth wing of the Women's March, which brought thousands to Washington last year.
Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

The disruption to the school day is opposed by some schools, notably in one Texas district where students who walk out have been told they face a three-day suspension.
Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters