Tag: March

There were chaotic scenes as a march led by Nigel Farage left Sunderland to protest against perceived attempts to betray the will of the people over Brexit. Marchers chanted “we’re marching for our freedom” and some described Farage as a great statesman and a fantastic leader. “If you see what has been happening in parliament this week, we may well not be leaving the EU. If politicians think they can walk all over us, then we’re going to march back and tell them they can’t. The march’s website states: “It is now clear the Westminster elite are preparing to betray the will of the people over Brexit. To counter this, Leave Means Leave are undertaking a peaceful protest to demonstrate the depth and breadth of popular discontent with the way Brexit has been handled.” Marchers gathered in the rain from the early morning for the first leg, which will take them 20 miles to Hartlepool. As Farage arrived he was met by a large group of reporters and TV crews. A row soon broke out with counter-protesters who turned up carrying red love hearts with messages including “we love workers’ rights” and “we love to have a say”. One set off blue and yellow flares , the colours of the EU, as protesters chanted “exit Brexit”. Read more Barry Lockey, who arrived in Sunderland carrying a flag with the message “Get Britain out: Time to leave the EU”, said that the event was about supporting democracy.

(CNN)Prominent Democrats, including former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, expressed support Saturday for the March for Our Lives rallies calling for stricter gun control. Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrats in the Senate and House, respectively, took to Twitter to call attention to the cause of the students marching in Washington and across the country in favor of strengthening gun laws. We heard them loud and clear in Washington and we know even more are gathering to #MarchForOurLives today. Will you join them?," Schumer asked on Twitter. Obama also tweeted his support for the demonstrations, writing, "Michelle and I are so inspired by all the young people who made today's marches happen. Michelle and I are so inspired by all the young people who made today's marches happen. White House deputy press secretary Lindsay Walters said in a statement, "We applaud the many courageous young Americans exercising their First Amendment rights today," adding, "keeping our children safe is a top priority of the President's." Rep. Carlos Curbelo, a moderate Republican who represents Florida's 26th Congressional District, expressed support for students participating in the march on Saturday, saying in a statement posted to Twitter that "the young men and women of Parkland are a true inspiration for all of us." "Let me especially thank young people at the high school in Parkland, Florida, who are dealing with their grief by standing up and fighting back to make sure that tragedies like they experienced never happen again." The March for Our Lives is a student-led demonstration to protest gun violence and call for stricter gun laws.

The rally was led by young activists from Parkland and across the country, in an array of powerful and composed speeches from young people from diverse backgrounds. Students from the school newspaper at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, where the February massacre took place, attended the march as special correspondents for the Guardian and have been guest-editing the Guardian US website since yesterday. “One of my best friends was killed in gun violence right around here, so it’s important to me,” he said. “Enough really is enough,” Rebecca Price-Taylor told the Guardian. On Friday, Trump signed a $1.3 trillion spending bill that includes modest improvements to background checks for gun sales and grants to help schools prevent gun violence, and the Justice Department proposed rule changes that would effectively ban “bump stock” devices that let semi-automatic weapons fire like a machine gun. (@SamTLevin) Big crowds at #MarchForOurLivesSF outside city hall pic.twitter.com/E74PlOlDjQ March 24, 2018 Sara Butorac, 15, stood outside San Francisco city hall carrying an anti-NRA poster. “Everyone needs to come together and have that support for everyone that has been losing their lives and their loved ones.” She said her school regularly does active shooter drills where they discuss whether to run or hide. Some teachers have instructed them to throw objects at a gunman as a last resort: “We are being trained.” (@SamTLevin) At SF #MarchForOurLives, Amanda Butorac, 24, says she will soon be a teacher and is sad students spend so much time training for shooters: “They shouldn’t be afraid to come to school.” Her sister, Sara, 15, said her school practices running, hiding, throwing objects at a gunman pic.twitter.com/gWqVhwFvVx Her older sister, Amanda, 24, is studying to become a teacher and said it was depressing that students had to spend so much time thinking about a possible killer in their schools. (@j_kirby1) Sign graveyard at Trump International Hotel #MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/t7POV9xlKJ March 24, 2018 (@JaclynCorin) My new, life-long friend: Yolanda Renee King. #MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/mFVAXdn0gs March 24, 2018 (@davidhogg111) ?? pic.twitter.com/VRtMEzalrd March 24, 2018 (@SamTLevin) “Talk to the kids!

Called Americans for Gun Safety Now, the group is spearheaded by Ambassador Al Hoffman Jr., a Florida estate real developer and GOP donor who served as Ambassador to Portugal under George W. Bush. The group has devised a six-point plan for comprehensive gun legislation, which is outlined in an ad it ran in the Wall Street Journal Saturday, urging Congress to pass it as soon as possible. “If they don’t do this, my guess is that they will lose big in November.” The details of the group were first reported by TIME earlier this month, but Hoffman officially launched the group Saturday, to coincide with the March For Our Lives demonstration in Washington D.C., which he is attending. They include Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter Jaime was killed in the shooting; Republican Congressmen Carlos Curbelo and Brian Mast, who authored a New York Times op-ed last month supporting a ban on assault weapons; and Dennis Blair, who served as Director of National Intelligence from 2009 to 2010. Presumably, this could provide cover for other Republicans who want to contribute to the group but don’t want to disclose that they have done so. That those who stay on the wrong side of this movement they’re [going to] lose their traditional donor money,” Guttenberg said in an interview with TIME. “I’m going to encourage anyone whose involved with giving money to any member of the Republican party not to give money to these candidates that will not endorse this plan,” he said. And convincing Congress to pass comprehensive gun safety legislation may seem like a breeze compared to the ultimate objective of the group: implementing a complete ban on assault weapons which is what Hoffman originally said was his red line for supporting candidates and lawmakers following the Parkland shooting. Overall, Hoffman does not seem oblivious to the mountainous challenges that lie ahead of this group, despite the influence some of the supporters hold within the Republican party. “But you know, this is my swan song, and I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.”

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—The White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said on Wednesday that she was organizing a “Million Liars March” to support her co-worker Hope Hicks. Calling on “American liars from every walk of life” to march, Sanders said that she had already received commitments from hundreds of liars in the White House, the Cabinet, and Congress. “These people realize what’s at stake,” she said. “It’s not just Hope Hicks’s career—it’s the lying life style itself.” “White lies like Hope’s were the lies of a promising beginner,” she said. “If Hope had been allowed to grow as liar, I have no doubt that someday she could have been as consistent a dispenser of ginormous whoppers as I am.” She said that, if Hope Hicks is villainized, “where will the next generation of liars come from?” Sanders said that the Million Liars March would address other issues of importance to the nation’s liars, such as a ban on lie detectors and a mandatory waiting period before statements can be fact-checked. At the end of her announcement, Sanders appeared to choke back tears as she swore loyalty to her embattled colleague. “I believe in the mendacity of Hope,” she said.