Bennet Crow gun control STEM school shooting

Bennet and Crow step all over mourning students for political points.

7 Comments

by: cologeek

Senator Michael Bennet and Jason Crow joined the Brady campaign in pulling a bait and switch on grieving students from the STEM School of Highlands Ranch. At an event Wednesday evening that was billed as a vigil for slain student Kendrick Castillo students were enraged as the politicians speaking at the event focused their statements not on the dead young man, but on gun control. The students stormed out of the event into the cold rain and held their own vigil.

From USA Today: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/05/09/colorado-school-shooting-vigil-students-walk-out-protest/1150282001/

The event Wednesday was primarily billed as a vigil to honor Kendrick Castillo, who was fatally shot in a rampage by two students at the STEM school here. Speakers at the school’s packed gymnasium, however, were mostly politicians and advocates pressing Congress for more restrictive gun laws.

After about 30 minutes, hundreds of students from the STEM School stormed out yelling “this is not for us,” “political stunt” and “we are people, not a statement.”

Outside, the traumatized shooting survivors thrust lighted cellphones into the air and chanted “mental health, mental health,” as their hands and voices shook in the cold rain. Angry students pushed and screamed at journalists, demanding to see photos they had taken.

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Many students appeared unaware the event was organized by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Jason Crow, both Democrats, both spoke at length about the need for federal action. The Brady Campaign invited reporters to cover the event.

This got nationwide coverage. I’m sure Bennet and Crow, along with the Brady Campaign thought they were getting a great photo opportunity to promote stricter gun control laws with a background of mourning students. Instead they showed how tactless and tacky they can be trying to capitalize on the students grief.

7 thoughts on “Bennet and Crow step all over mourning students for political points.”

bullshit! says:

May 9, 2019 at 1:34 pm

Fuck you and your bloodthirsty gun culture. I'm not going to speak ill of the students but their reaction in a moment of grief is being misused by adults like you who don't give a fuck about their safety or their mental health. Also there may have been some bullying going on. There's a lot we don't know but one thing I do know is that more guns aren't the answer. So kiss off.

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1. cologeek says:
  
  May 9, 2019 at 2:24 pm
  
  Who said one damn thing about guns until you brought it up? My post merely pointed out how two of our elected officials from the Democratic Party tried to take advantage of a tragedy by callously using these young people for their own political gain. And the youngsters saw through that, to their credit.
  
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JeffcoBlue says:

May 9, 2019 at 2:20 pm

Bullshit. At least they showed up.

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1. cologeek says:
  
  May 9, 2019 at 2:25 pm
  
  The whole thing was set up by the Brady Campaign. I very much doubt that anyone besides Crow and Bennet were invited on the political side.
  
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Pseudonymous says:

May 9, 2019 at 3:28 pm

Kids aren't props; this is their time to be heard. The organizers and politicians screwed the pooch.

In a statement following the vigil, the Brady group apologized, saying that organizers are "deeply sorry any part of this vigil did not provide the support, caring and sense of community we sought to foster and facilitate and which we know is so crucial to communities who suffer the trauma of gun violence."

A spokesperson for Bennet said in a statement that the vigil "should have been about Kendrick Castillo and the STEM School students."

"They are our focus and the event should have been set up to ensure their voices were fully heard," the statement added.

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mamajama55 says:

May 9, 2019 at 4:54 pm

Another possibility on this: the students who walked out were set up by pro-gun zealots. The timing was a little suspicious. Recall Colorado (the Neville family money laundry) has an in-house propaganda organ, Citizen Press. The Citizen Press ran an article dated today,"

Shameless anti-gun zealots taught a hard lesson

Fox News was all over it.

I agree Bennet and Crow should have given the kids time to speak and mourn before they even spoke, and should have limited their remarks. But one account showed that the mike was actually handed over to some students to speak, and that was when the organized crowd of students walked out.

I follow these recall groups, and they are very media savvy, to the point of creating their own media rather than waiting for a youtube moment.

So it's possible that these poor kids are being used by both sides.

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1. MADCO says:
  
  May 9, 2019 at 8:33 pm
  
  from friend in the room:
  It felt organized.. staged. It look and felt planned. The chanting was coordinated and the timing was … timed
  
  It was a dumb event. Why didn't the State representaives from the area attend and speak?
  The press releases and blogs had it about :30 seconds after it happened. Really?
  OK.
  Whatever.
  
  Stop shooting places up.
  Access to guns (and other weapons) is a part of the problem. Access.
  
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