Parkland Shooting Survivors Slam Santorum's CPR Comment
Parkland shooting survivors and March For Our Lives rally activists were quick to slam former Pennsylvania Republican Senator Rick Santorum after he said student gun control advocates would be better served taking CPR classes instead of protesting.
David Hogg, a survivor from the deadly February 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida, which killed 17 students and staff members, said the former senator "might need to learn CPR for the NRA following midterms."
On Sunday, Santorum responded to the March for our Lives rally on CNN's State of the Union.
"How about kids instead of looking to someone else to solve their problem, do something about maybe taking CPR classes or trying to deal with situations that when there is a violent shooter that you can actually respond to that," Santorum said.
He said that the youth didn't stop and ask, "'How do I, as an individual, deal with this problem? How am I going to do something about stopping bullying within my own community? What am I going to do to actually help respond to a shooter?'"
Santorum's words sent a wave of backlash and anger throughout social media. Many have felt that the youth were demonstrating a strong show of solidarity after a rise is school violence across the nation, including last week's Maryland shooting at Great Mills High School, which marked the 17th school shooting this year, according to CNN's research.
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While Santorum said that "phony gun laws don't solve these problems," and that students took action "to ask someone to pass a law" through protesting, he did note he was "proud" of the student activists. However, he did say their efforts could be directed towards fixing what's wrong within their communities at an individual level.
Lauren Hogg, another survivor of Parkland and sister of David Hogg, said that the March for Our Lives was a call to speak up about injustice.
"Today is the day that America will change, and it will be because of the young people in this country," she tweeted on Saturday.
Parkland students have mobilized through the #NeverAgain movement since their school hallways and classrooms became a crime scene. March for Our Lives organizers estimate 800,000 protesters attended Saturday's rally, which could make it the largest single-day protest in the nation's capitol.