Florida School Shooting Survivors Slam Politicians For Taking ‘Blood Money’ From The NRA

Over the weekend, teens who survived the Florida school shooting called out the grown-ups for failing to prevent a massacre that killed 17 people. They began with a fiery speech from Emma Gonzalez and continued with David Hogg and others announcing a national march (on March 24) to “shame” politicians who accept substantial donations from the NRA. On Monday morning, Gonzalez and Hogg continued to pressure congresspeople by appearing on CNN, where Gonzalez directly labeled these campaign contributions as “blood money”:

“We keep telling them that if they accept this blood money, they are against the children … You’re either funding the killers, or you’re standing with the children. The children who have no money. We don’t have jobs, so we can’t pay for your campaign. We would hope that you have the decent morality to support us at this point.”

One sobering fact to mention here — these teens weren’t even alive in 1999 when the Columbine massacre occurred. That’s how long these school mass shootings have been occurring without congressional action, and to that end, a national school walkout has been scheduled for April 20, which is the 19th anniversary of Columbine. And in the below clip, Gonzalez and Hogg advised the NRA to “disband, dismantle, and don’t make another organization.”

On Monday, the White House announced that President Trump is “supportive of efforts to improve the federal background check system,” but Congress still must draft legislation to that effect, and they haven’t demonstrated any actual intent to do so while simply offering “thoughts and prayers.” The congressional track record of inaction can’t be denied, and in the below clip, Hogg asked politicians why they run for office if they “can’t get elected without taking money from child murderers.” The (incredibly perceptive) teenager has a point.

(Via CNN)

×