Dozens of Colorado students walked out in disgust Wednesday night after an event billed as a community vigil to honor their classmate killed during the shooting at their high school on Tuesday turned out to be a political rally sponsored by gun-control groups.

Just prior to the walk-out, Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Jason Crow, both Democrats, had each taken a turn at the mic to call for gun control.

Kendrick Castillo, an 18-year-old senior, is being hailed as a hero after he rushed the shooter to save lives, losing his own life in the process. Eight other students were injured during the shooting at STEM Highlands Ranch, a K-12 charter school focused on science, technology, engineering, and math.

Two students were arrested, an adult male and a juvenile female who identifies as male. The accused male is a registered Democrat whose social media history includes anti-Christian, anti-Trump, and pro-Obama messages. He drove a car with a pentagram spray-painted on the hood, as well as other anti-social graffiti:

Car towed from #stemshooting suspect’s home apparently has “F*** SOCIETY” spray painted on the side. Also “666” and a what looks like a pentagram sprayed on the hood. pic.twitter.com/wyQNLXTEzx — Joe & Michaela (@Trumpsters45) May 8, 2019

A public vigil at another public high school was announced to remember and honor Castillo and other victims, but unbeknownst to the students, it was sponsored by the gun control groups “Brady’s Team Enough” and “March for Our Lives,” according to The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway. The Democrat politicians performed as expected.

Sen. Bennet: “We live in a great country, but we need to fix these broken gun laws.” — kieran nicholson (@kierannicholson) May 9, 2019

As the politicians called for gun control, students grew angry and headed for the exits, according to USA Today reporter Trevor Hughes.

Students from the #STEMshooting in Colorado stormed out of a rally organized by gun-control advocates Wednesday night after growing angry about the politicization of their trauma. pic.twitter.com/uCLEqt89VY — Trevor Hughes (@TrevorHughes) May 9, 2019

Frustrated, crying and angry, #STEMschool shooting victims hold an impromptu vigil in the rain Wednesday after leaving a gun-control vigil they felt inappropriately politicized their trauma. (They asked that I not photograph their faces close up, and I respected their wishes.) pic.twitter.com/cksRXGtYQA — Trevor Hughes (@TrevorHughes) May 9, 2019

Kevin Beaty, a reporter for Denverite, said that the kids were upset that they were being “made into political pawns for gun control.”

They demanded that they be allowed to speak. An adult said to the crowd, “You will not speak to the media…this is not who we are.” Then they stormed out, yelling that they’d been made into political pawns for gun control. pic.twitter.com/Pe2Dk951Lo — Kevin Beaty (@KevinJBeaty) May 9, 2019

And then they went back inside and reclaimed the gym. Students ran the mic, and they took turns. Some lamented how the event was a political stunt, some said they just wanted to remember Kendrick Castillo. This was supposed to be for them. pic.twitter.com/aPzDX69QRK — Kevin Beaty (@KevinJBeaty) May 9, 2019

“Students said their grief was being politicized,” tweeted 9News anchor Kyle Clark. “They later returned, took the mic, and some said they didn’t want to be used to promote gun control.”

STEM School students walked out of a vigil tonight after @RepJasonCrow & @SenatorBennet spoke. Students said their grief was being politicized. They later returned, took the mic, and some said they didn’t want to be used to promote gun control. #copolitics #9NEWS — Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) May 9, 2019

After students returned to the gymnasium, they “reclaimed” the event and complained about adults politicizing what was supposed to be a vigil for the fallen student. The kids “gave Bennet a piece of their mind, telling him to focus on ‘mental health’ issues,” The Federalist reported.

Following a terrible school shooting in Parkland, Florida, last year, CNN hosted an anti-gun rally that whitewashed Sheriff Scott Israel’s fatal errors, blamed Second Amendment supporter Dana Loesch as a culprit, allowed Sen. Marco Rubio to be equated to the school shooter, and lifted up Democratic politicians such as Ted Deutsch as heroes.

But the grieving students of STEM Highlands Ranch weren’t interested in the Democrats’ tone-deaf, anti-gun demagoguery. They were there to honor the victims and survivors of the fatal shooting, especially the heroic Kendrick Castillo.