MIAMI – President Biden joined this Monday the commemoration of the fourth anniversary of the shooting in which people died in a Parkland high school, with a message of support for fighting the “epidemic of gun violence” and creating a “safer country for all.”
In a statement about the “deadliest shooting in a high school in a nation with too many of them,” Biden called for “the voices of victims and survivors and responsible gun owners to be louder than the voices of gun manufacturers and the National Rifle Association (NRA). )”.
The presidential message was anticipated before the events organized in Florida to remember the 10 students and three staff members of Marjory Douglas Stoneman High School in Parkland who died on 10 February 2018 for the shots fired with an assault rifle by former student Nikolas Cruz, who He pleaded guilty to their deaths and will be tried as of April.
At three in the afternoon, many Floridians and authorities observed a minute of silence for the victims of the massacre.
The mayor of Miami-Dade County, Daniella Levine Cava, published on his Twitter account the names of the victims and the message: “I pause to remember these 17 souls and to show solidarity with those who they demand action”.
On a day in which the flags in official buildings and public schools flew at half-staff as a sign of mourning, other commemorative events are taking place in Parkland, a town about 40 miles (40 km) north of Miami , and in other places in South Florida,
In the schools of Broward County, where Parkland is located and today there was no class but a day of reflection and a minute was saved silence at 10: 17 in the morning, the time of the shooting.
In your message, Biden reviewed his Administration’s efforts to reduce gun crime, including curbing the proliferation of “ghost” weapons and helping cities adopt “smart” law enforcement models.
“I asked Congress to pass a budget that provides an additional $500 million dollars for proven strategies that we know reduce violent crime: responsible community policing and interventions against community violence,” added the president, who demanded that the US Congress do more, “starting by requiring background checks on all gun sales.”