'Their blood is on your hands': Parkland high school students hit back at Trump for blaming Democrats and the FBI for the shooting
- Students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 people were gunned down earlier this week, slammed President Trump for his response to the shooting.
- Following the shooting, Trump suggested the FBI didn't catch the shooter because it was spending too much time on the Russia investigation. He also blamed the Democratic Party for not passing gun control legislation when it controlled both houses of Congress and the White House.
- "That's disgusting," one student said in response to Trump's comments. "You're supposed to bring this nation together, not divide us. Children are dying, and their blood is on your hands because of that."
Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida have some words for President Donald Trump.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas became the site of the country's deadliest mass shooting in 2018 last week, when the suspected shooter, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, gunned down 17 of his peers on Feb. 14.
Trump on Saturday suggested that the FBI "missed all of the many signals sent out by the Florida school shooter" because it was "spending too much time" on the Russia investigation.
Aly Sheehy, a senior at the high school, hit back at Trump shortly after.
"17 of my classmates are gone. That's 17 futures, 17 children, and 17 friends stolen. But you're right, it always has to be about you," she tweeted at Trump. "How silly of me to forget. #neveragain."
Kyra Farrow, another student at the high school, also spoke out.
"...[M]y friends were brutally murdered and you have the nerve to make this about Russia," she tweeted. "I can not believe this."
"We don't need your thoughts & prayers," she added later. "We need action. We need reform. The survivors of a massacre demand this. Classmates demand this. The community demands this. I refuse to let my friends die in vain.I refuse to let this happen again."
"Oh my god," tweeted Morgan Williams, another student at the school. "17 OF MY CLASSMATES AND FRIENDS ARE GONE AND YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO MAKE THIS ABOUT RUSSIA???!! HAVE A DAMN HEART. You can keep all of your fake and meaningless 'thoughts and prayers'."
Sarah Lerner, a teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, weighed in as well.
"There IS collusion, you clown," Lerner tweeted. "Get your head out of your ass & do something about what happened AT MY SCHOOL. This is the REAL NEWS. You came to Florida & didn't talk to me, my students or my coworkers. You had a photo op & played golf. YOU are a disgrace to MY country."
Emma Gonzalez, who survived the school shooting, defended the FBI after Trump questioned its effectiveness.
"The FBI were some of the amazing first responders who were helping us get to safety and the fact that he wants to discredit them in any way ... it's not acceptable," Gonzalez told CNN.
'For God's sake, let's save some lives'
In addition to blaming the FBI, which admitted on Friday that it failed to follow protocol on a tip it got about Cruz's intentions prior to the shooting, Trump also blamed the Democratic Party.
"Just like they don't want to solve the DACA problem, why didn't the Democrats pass gun control legislation when they had both the House & Senate during the Obama Administration," Trump tweeted. "Because they didn't want to, and now they just talk."
In addition to controlling the White House, the Republican Party controls both chambers of Congress. The Supreme Court also has a 5-4 conservative majority.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas student David Hogg pointed that out during an interview along with his fellow classmates with "Meet the Press" on Sunday.
Responding to Trump's tweet accusing Democrats of failing to act when they controlled Congress, Hogg said, "How dare you. You are in that exact position right now, and you want to look back on our history and blame the Democrats? That's disgusting."
"You're the president," he continued. "You're supposed to bring this nation together, not divide us. Children are dying, and their blood is on your hands because of that."
Giuliana Matamoros, a junior at the school, told Yahoo News she was livid when she saw Trump's tweets following the shooting.
"I was furious," she said. "I can't believe that it's only been four days since the shooting and he has already made it about himself. I though, 'He obviously doesn't care about us' because he doesn't," Matamoros added.
"He decided to make the cause of death of 17 of my peers into something about him. I just really wonder if he ever thought for one second we don't care about what he has to say. We only care about his actions on making this never happen," she said.
Hogg also urged Trump to take action. "Stop going on vacation in Mar-a-Lago," he said on "Meet the Press."
Hogg and Gonzalez were among the hundreds of students, teachers, and local officials who attended a rally in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday to demand that Congress and the White House take steps to introduce gun control measures.
Gonzalez was one of the speakers at the rally, and she excoriated Trump and the National Rifle Association in the wake of the shooting.
"If the president wants to come up to me and tell me to my face that it was a terrible tragedy and how it should never have happened and maintain telling us how nothing is going to be done about it, I'm going to happily ask him how much money he received from the National Rifle Association," Gonzalez said. "But, hey, you wanna know something? It doesn't matter because I already know: $30 million."
Meanwhile, in San Diego, more than 100 people gathered in support of a ban on assault rifles. And on Friday, a group called "Student Walkout Against Gun Violence," announced on Twitter that it is planning a nationwide walkout this week in schools across the country to demand action.
"Take action," Hogg said Sunday, addressing Trump. "Work with Congress ... Your party controls both the House and Senate. Take action. Get some bills passed. And for God's sake, let's save some lives."
On Monday, the White House signaled that Trump was open to supporting gun control legislation aimed at improving the background check system following the shooting.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump spoke with Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, about his bipartisan bill to improve federal compliance with criminal background checks on gun buyers. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, is a cosponsor of the legislation.
"The President spoke to Senator Cornyn on Friday about the bipartisan bill he and Sen. Murphy introduced to improve Federal Compliance with Criminal Background check Legislation," Sanders said. "While discussions are ongoing and revisions are being considered, the President is supportive of efforts to improve the Federal background check system."
Brennan Weiss and Brett LoGiurato contributed reporting.