On the second anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub shooting, protesters took part in a die-in near Mar-a-Lago to honor people killed during mass shootings and to demand changes that would end gun violence.
"It makes me want to fight so that never happens to anyone again," said Jenni Corwin, a recent Palm Beach Gardens High School graduate who organized Tuesday's protest.
A die-in is a demonstration in which people lie down as if they're dead.
“We’re done dying in our schools. We’re done dying in our churches," said Caspen Becher, a sophomore at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. "We’re done dying in our concerts. We’re done dying in our safe spaces. We’re done dying in our clubs. We’re done dying.”
On Tuesday morning for National Die-In Day, about 50 people laid still on the hot pavement on the sidewalk near Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach across the water from Mar-a-Lago. A protestor used a loudspeaker to read the names of the 49 victims of the shooting at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando two years ago.
“I think it’s powerful to others to see parents of a victim pretending to be dead. My kid didn’t pretend to be dead. He was murdered," said Manuel Oliver, father of Joaquin Oliver, who died in the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in February.
This is not the first die-in in recent weeks involving MSD victims' parents and survivors. People recentlyconducted one at a Publix in Coral Springs.
That die-in was in reaction to the supermarket's campaign contributions to Adam Putnam, Agricultural Commissioner and candidate for Florida Governor. Putnam is a supporter of the National Rifle Association.
Since Pulse, the group claims 720 have been killed by mass shootings; they say Pulse should have been the last one.
Other die-ins were scheduled outside Sen. Marco Rubio’s office in Tampa, the Capitol Lawn in Washington, and outside Trump Tower in Chicago.
Heavy presence and support for Parkland victims during die-in, which just now ended @WPTV@ChangeTheRef@DanielTabaresss@Mar_a_LagoDieInpic.twitter.com/2neKfKTr56
— Amy Lipman (@AmyLipman) June 12, 2018