Thousands march against gun violence in Washington D.C.

Washington D.C. [USA], Mar 25 (ANI): Thousands of people flooded the Pennsylvania Avenue in the American capital for the "March for Our Lives" on March 24 to support tougher gun controls, in the wake of last month's shooting at a Florida school, which claimed 17 lives.

Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas (MSD) High School in Parkland, Florida are organising the massive protests in collaboration with the nonprofit organisation, "Everytown for Gun Safety." The motto of the protests is Never Again MSD.

19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, a former student, claimed responsibility for the shooting and was expelled from the school for disciplinary reasons. He has been booked on 17 counts of premeditated murder.

Following this, massive protests were held by students across the US to pressurise the Trump administration for tougher gun measures.

The killings re-energized the movement for gun control, creating activists out of young student survivors who have harnessed the power of social media to bring global attention to their cause, The Hill reported.

"We students have become victims of our government's glaring inaction, but never again," Demitri Hoth, a senior at Stoneman Douglas, said at the US Capitol.

"We have come here today to hold accountable politicians and their disturbing inaction. Never again will our voices, students' voices will be shunned into silence," Hoth added.

Well-known celebrities such as Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Common, Jennifer Hudson, Vic Mensa, George Clooney, Paul McCartney and Andra Day are all scheduled to participate in the event.

Other celebrities have also contributed to the March for Our Lives event.

The Washington Post reported that television personality Oprah Winfrey and actor George Clooney and his wife Amal Clooney each donated USD 500,000 to the march.

American football team New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft flew Parkland survivors and victims' families to D.C. on the team's plane, The Boston Globe reported.

Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America said that over 800 "sibling marches" are planned around the world.

Elsewhere, the March for Our Lives event were held in other places across the US such as New York, Seattle and Colorado to name a few.

The hashtag #marchforourlives has been trending on Twitter since the last few days.

A student from North Texas high school in Dallas was passionate about the gun violence movement.

A huge turnout was witnessed in Colorado Springs.

A similar walkout against gun violence by the New York citizens was captured by a Twitterer.

Massive protests were also held in Charlotte in North Carolina.

Another user from New York posted a strong message against gun violence.

Last week, students from more than 3,000 schools took to the streets from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles and from New York to Parkland on National Walkout Day to call for action against gun violence.

Organized by Empower, the youth arm of the Women's March movement, the walkouts are the latest show of activism by young people who are now wading into the gun-control debate. (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI