As millions walked across the globe to protest the danger posed by firearms Saturday, Macomb County residents were among their ranks.
In Washington, D.C., Clinton Township native Rachel Marchesi, 30, of St. Clair Shores joined the largest of the marches.
“It was a great experience. Very inspiring and even empowering, as an adult, to see young students leading and turning their grief into strength and bravery,” she wrote in a social media post sent to The Macomb Daily.
Closer to home, the walk to lobby for stricter gun laws started in Detroit’s old warehouse district, traversed the River Walk along the Detroit River, proceeded to Campus Martius, and was slated to return to the riverside at the Renaissance Center for speakers at a rally.
Gina Aiuto of Roseville, who brought her 4-year-old daughter, Madeline, to the Detroit event, said she was impressed with the number and different types of people who attended.
“It was amazing seeing people of all ages and walks of life together for the same things,” she said, including clergy members and multiple generations from single families.
A group of physicians spoke about their frequent interaction with gunshot victims, she said.
“They see the evidence every day in their trauma bays,” she said.
The Detroit march was expected to draw 30,000 people, but Aiuto said she heard estimates that up to 75,000 showed up.
It was one of more than 800 demonstrations taking place in the United States and around the world, also including at Oakland University in Rochester. The marches were sparked by the Feb. 14 shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., where 17 people were fatally shot last month. The suspect in the Parkland shooting, former student Nikolas Cruz, 19, pleaded guilty in return for a life prison sentence, rather than possibly facing the death penalty, according to his lawyer.
Last week, Macomb County students along with tens of thousands of others around the country walked out of their classrooms to demand action on gun violence and school safety.
Amid the wake of activism, Macomb County authorities have had to deal with their own rash of scattered threats. Since the Florida massacre, there have been dozens of incidents and arrests of Macomb County students who have been charged making threats or false threats of terrorism, and/or misuse of a communication device.
Speakers included students who organized the local march, a representative from Moms Demand Action, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a representative from Ceasefire Detroit, state Representatives Stephanie Chang and Robert Wittenberg, Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence, Barbara Jones with Mothers of Murdered Children and representatives from Siwatu’s Defense Campaign and the Black Youth Project/Movement for Black Lives.
For more details visit facebook.com/marchforourlives/. Follow #IWillMarch and #MarchForOurLives on Twitter
-- Jameson Cook, The Macomb Daily
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