‘This cannot keep happening.’ Marches against gun violence planned in U.S., Fort Worth
Marches calling for an end to gun violence are planned across the county on Saturday, including in Fort Worth.
March For Our Lives — an organization formed in the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida — coordinated student-led protests across the country and in Washington in 2018 demanding reforms to gun laws. More than a million people across the country attended marches like one held in Fort Worth that drew thousands of attendees.
After 19 students and two teachers were killed at an Uvalde elementary school late last month, the group is rallying again, protesting in Washington and more than 300 communities.
More than a dozen marches are planned in the state, including in Houston, San Antonio, El Paso and Austin at the Texas Capitol. In North Texas, marches are also planned in Dallas, Frisco, Rockwall and Wichita Falls, according to the group’s website.
“Enough is enough,” said Lucy Ariola, an event co-organizer, from Fort Worth. “This cannot keep happening. Children and parents should not be scared to send their kids or go to school every day.”
The Fort Worth march is Saturday at noon at the Tarrant County Court House. A handful of student speakers and a teacher are expected to give remarks during the event, said Lillie Doze, a rising sophomore at Young Women’s Leadership Academy and an event co-organizer.
Ariola was one of the organizers of the 2018 march in Fort Worth as a high school junior. Now a rising senior at the University of Oklahoma, Ariola finds herself again helping to organize against gun violence, along with a fellow 2018 co-organizer and Doze.
“It’s devastating that nothing has changed,” Ariola said.
Doze was sad after hearing about the shooting at Robb Elementary School.
“But then I thought to myself, ‘I can’t just be sad. There’s something that I can do about this, but what can I do?’” she said. “So I did some research, and here we are.”
She wants to see policies like bans on semi-automatic rifles and and universal background checks on gun purchases.
“I think that if these laws are in place, then they will help prevent gun violence,” Doze said.
This story was originally published June 10, 2022 at 2:18 PM.
