A vigil commemorating the victims of a Colorado school shooting ended in protest Wednesday evening after students said they refused to be used as pawns to promote gun control.
Hundreds attended the vigil – students, teachers, activists and elected officials – to honor Kendrick Castillo, the 18-year-old, who was fatally shot Tuesday at STEM School Highlands Ranch in suburban Denver.
At the vigil, held at nearby Highlands Ranch High School, several of Castillo’s classmates were moved to protest after invitees Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., spoke. Many of the teenagers perceived the speeches as politicians politicizing their trauma when they wanted their own voices heard.
Students stood and stormed out. Some clapped and united in chants, deriding what they saw as a “political stunt.” The school parking lot quickly filled with teenagers, cursing at the news media and holding backlit cellphones in the air.
“What happened at STEM is awful, but it’s not a statistic. We can’t be used for a reason for gun control. We are people, not a statement,” said one student wearing a yellow Spartans shirt.
Another teenager voiced similar frustrations, saying: “I thought this was about us, not about politics.”
Earlier Wednesday, in the wake of the shooting, both Colorado politicians posted messages on Twitter endorsing gun law reform.
“We must pass common-sense gun violence laws,” Crow wrote.
Bennet tweeted: “Our children deserve to live in a world where they don’t fear going to school. ... “Something has to change.”
Castillo was killed three days before graduation. A bullet hit the high school senior as he tried to tackle the shooter. Eight other students were injured when two classmates opened fire.
According to police, one of the shooters was 18-year-old Devon Erickson, and the other was a younger student.
The vigil gathering at Highlands Ranch High School, one of several held Wednesday, was organized by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
“We are here to lift up the voices of victims and survivors,” a statement released by the Brady Center said Wednesday. “We are deeply sorry any part of this vigil did not provide the support, caring and sense of community we sought to foster and facilitate.”
The same students regathered in the school gymnasium later Wednesday evening and completed Castillo’s commemoration.
One student addressed the reconvened crowd and said, “We wanted Kendrick to be mourned; we wanted all of you to join us in that mourning. But that was not allowed here.”
He said, “We’re back now to tell you we love Kendrick and we love all of the survivors.”
