A South L.A. teenager named Edna Chavez electrified demonstrators on Saturday at the March For Our Lives main protest in Washington D.C. Here are her potent words about the nature of gun violence in urban settings like L.A.
"I have learned to duck from bullets before I learned how to read," Los Angeles student Edna Chavez says at #MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/YqshSjJFtW
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 24, 2018
On the same day on the West Coast, tens of thousands of people demonstrated peacefully in cities across California. Thousands gathered in downtown Los Angeles as part of the nationwide and worldwide protests against gun violence. Here are some snapshots and voices from the crowds:
"I don’t see why I should fear going to school … I feel like I should be able to focus in school instead of fearing for my life,” said Claire Trieu, 15, a student at Gabrielino High School in San Gabriel.
Students from Tom Bradley Elementary School near Leimert Park.
“Gun violence is a public health problem in this county … there are so many things that could be done that aren’t being done yet," says David Dassey, a public health physician… some of which is being blocked for instance the prohibition against the Centers for Disease Control going back over twenty years to conduct basic epidemiological research into gun violence.”
Trump and 2nd Amendment supporters engaging marchers from behind a police line in front of LAPD headquarters.
Ruben Medina guides his daughter Genesis. “I tell her if she hears any firecrackers or sirens go under the table or go in the closet and hide.”
Molly and Griffin Kramer, a student at West Hollywood Elementary School.
Children from Simi Valley hold portraits of the 17 students killed in Parkland, FL drawn by Gracie Pekrul, 16 of Oak Park Independent School in Simi Valley.
RELATED: Sights and Sounds from L.A. Students Who Joined National Walkout Against Gun Violence
An overhead view of a portion of the march on Broadway.
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