Parkland Survivors Offer Condolences To Defeated NRA-Backed Candidates, Send ‘Thoughts And Prayers’
Some survivors of the Parkland school shooting, one that tragically took the lives of 17 students and staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, took to Twitter to taunt NRA-backed candidates after losing their seats in yesterday’s midterm elections, USA Today reported.
Among those ousted was Virginia’s Republican Representative Barbara Comstock, who lost a seat dominated by the GOP since the 1950s. Comstock had received an “A” rating from the NRA, a fact ingrained in the mind of David Hogg and other student advocates, whose activism against gun violence quickly shot them to fame.
Hogg tweeted a short message following Comstock’s loss, bidding adieu to the representative. Comstock lost her seat in the House to Jennifer Wexton.
Hogg and other Marjory Stoneman Douglas students played a huge part in the “March for Our Lives” rally, one that drew thousands of protestors to the nation’s capital and prompted hundreds of other rallies throughout the country. According to USA Today, Hogg and other protesters once walked passed Comstock’s office on Capitol Hill — only to be seen by staffers and to have the door slammed shut.
His sister Lauren got in on the action too, sending her “thoughts and prayers” to all of the NRA-backed candidates that were unseated last night, mimicking the phrase that many politicians routinely employ in the wake of gun violence.
Bye @BarbaraComstock ?
— David Hogg ?? (@davidhogg111) November 7, 2018
Jaclyn Corin, another Parkland student, retweeted a tweet from activist Michael Skolnik. Skolknik’s tweet noted that 27 NRA-backed candidates lost in yesterday’s midterm elections, which USA Today described as a “record” number.
“And we’re not going anywhere, @NRA,” Corin added to the tweet.
Sending my thoughts and prayers to every NRA backed politician tonight. (;
— Lauren Hogg (@lauren_hoggs) November 7, 2018
The results last night were not all positive for the student activists. As the Guardian reported, the shooting survivors and the parents of those that were killed will be living in a state with a governor endorsed by the NRA, joined by two senators that have a history of NRA support.
It looks like the students who survived the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting this February, and the parents of their classmates who were killed, will be living in a state with an NRA-endorsed governor and two NRA-endorsed senators. A lot of grief and anger in Parkland tonight.
— Lois Beckett (@loisbeckett) November 7, 2018
“I’m shaking with anger right now,” Corin said during an election watch party in Parkland. “It’s the same feeling I was getting the night of 14 February, so angry that I don’t know what to do with that anger.”
“I’m freaking out,” @jaclyncorin told me a few days minutes ago. “I’m just very nervous.” pic.twitter.com/wldVX6nUV4
— Lois Beckett (@loisbeckett) November 7, 2018
“We’re not going to stop fighting,” she promised. “I can tell you, I’m doing this for the rest of my life.”
According to the Guardian, the Parkland student activists were preparing their next steps even before the election results came in.
“It just proves we have a lot further to go,” Hogg said. “This is going to be a long uphill battle.
