Thousands of school children, teens, and parents gathered at the Tennessee Capitol on Thursday to protest for tighter gun control laws three days after a shooter opened fire at The Covenant School, killing three children and three adults.
Students Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all aged nine, headteacher Katherine Koonce, 60, substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61, and custodian Mike Hill, 61, all died in the attack by Audrey Hale, a transgender man who shot through a door and entered Covenant School, a private Christian school in Tennessee.
At the state Capitol, protestors lined the hallways and chanted at the state’s Republican-dominated Legislature as they filed in to take up bills for the first time since the massacre.
In the news: VIDEO: Police Release Video Of Nashville Christian School Shooter Audrey Hale
“It’s a tough state, I get it,” organizer Maryam Abolfazli told WKRN.
WATCH: Thousands of protesters stand outside of Tennessee’s State Capitol standing up for gun control laws.
— PoliticsVerse 🇺🇸 (@PoliticsVerse) March 30, 2023
This is a beautiful sight to see. pic.twitter.com/jvq0GHmfxR
Another video shows protesters in the legislative chambers chanting “no action, no peace” and “enough is enough.”
Authorities managed to clear the Capitol and resumed their session, according to reports.
Chants of “Save our children!” echoed noisily in the hallways between the state Senate and House chambers, with protesters setting up shop inside and outside the Capitol.
Meanwhile, in the House, two Democratic lawmakers caused a temporary shutdown when they began yelling, “Power to the people” through a megaphone.
Some silently filled the Senate chamber’s gallery, including children who held signs reading “I’m nine” — a reference to the age of the three kids who died in Monday’s attack.
Most protesters were removed from the gallery after some began yelling down at the lawmakers, “Children are dead!”
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