The Guardian spoke to some of those taking part in the Washington march – and asked what prompted them to protest

Marchers descended on Washington DC from around the US to call for gun reform in the March for Our Lives demonstrations. Lois Beckett spoke to some of those taking part.

March for Our Lives: hundreds of thousands demand end to gun violence – live Read more

Sakeenah Dasti, 16, Amanah Dasti, 11 and Ruqaiyah Dasti, 17, from Gaithersburg, Maryland

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘I remember being afraid.’ Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/The Guardian

“We haven’t forgotten what happened in Sandy Hook and Columbine and Virginia Tech. Those things happened a long time ago, and people tried putting them in the back of their minds, but we’re showing here that we haven’t forgotten about any of that,” said Ruqaiyah.

The shooting that first affected her directly was Sandy Hook, she said. “I was very young,” she said. “I was nervous, I didn’t really understand what it was about. I remember being afraid.”

For Amanah, it was “when it happened here”. There was a school shooting nearby in Marylandlast week.

Steve Craig, 64 and Maddie Craig, 21, New Castle, Pennsylvania

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘There’s a lot more awareness of what’s going on.’ Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/The Guardian

The father and daughter came to Washington to show their support for the Parkland students, and to advocate for a ban on assault weapons.



“I think the second amendment needs to be repealed and amended. I don’t think the right to own a gun should be unlimited,” Steve Craig said.

Maddie Craig said she thought social media had changed the gun control debate, allowing students to speak directly to each other and share their experiences. “For Columbine, there wasn’t that social media presence.” Now, she said, “you can hear every student’s opinion. There’s a lot more awareness of what’s going on across America.”

Alice Gambino, 42, Silver Spring, Maryland

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘I felt very guilty’. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/The Guardian

Gambino’s two sons, 15 and eight, were too afraid to come to the rally, worried that the large crowds would attract “gun crazies” and that there might be another act of violence.

“You don’t have to go. I’ll go for you,” she told them.

Gambino said this was her first protest for gun control. “I think I was waiting for someone else to do something,” she said.

“Seeing that the kids in the last attack had to rally themselves, I felt very guilty. We the parents should have already been in the streets and we shouldn’t have left until we made the change for them.”

Jasmine Meelock, 17, and Kaeleigh Wedin, 16, Great Mills, Maryland

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘They had guns. It was really chaos.’ Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/The Guardian

Meelock and Wedin came to the March for Our Lives just four days after a shooting at their high school in southern Maryland, which left one of their classmates killed, one injured, and a third, the shooter, dead after a confrontation with a school police officer.

The two teenagers had hidden in their classrooms during the shooting, listening to the principal call over the loudspeaker to exit the halls.

“It was a little bit scary at first when the police officers came into our classrooms. They had guns. It was really chaos. They kicked down the door. It was really loud. A lot of us hadn’t seen guns before,” Meelock said.

“I was close to it,” said Wedin. “We went on lockdown, we were all waiting to know if we were going to be OK. If there was a threat to us. We were all planning what we were going to do if we had to get out the window.”

The shooter had posted on social media and in private messages before the shooting that he was depressed and had guns, they said.

Ayana Trottier, 17, Turtle Mountain reservation, North Dakota

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘As minorities we understand feeling speechless or not being heard.’ Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/The Guardian

Trottier had traveled as part of a group from from the Turtle Mountain Indian reservation in North Dakota near the Canadian border. Her school’s student council had organized the trip to show their support for Parkland students, and in reaction to the series of threats their school and town had faced in recent weeks.

It was the teenagers’ first march. Trottier and the other young women wore ceremonial ribbon skirts to show the importance of the march. “They’re very sacred,” she said.

“We want our voices to be heard,” she said. “As minorities we understand feeling speechless or not being heard.”