Survivors of the shooting at the charter school in Colorado that killed one student and injured eight others stormed out of a community vigil Wednesday, calling it a "political stunt."
The event, organized by Team Enough — the student-led initiative of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence — was intended to be an interfaith vigil to honor the STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting survivors and 18-year-old Kendrick Castillo, who died Tuesday after trying to stop one of the shooters.
Hundreds of grieving students, parents, and community members packed the Highlands Ranch school's gym, but their anger and frustration became apparent after none of the STEM students themselves had a chance to speak about Castillo at the vigil.
Instead, several speakers — including Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Michael Bennet, Democratic Rep. Jason Crow, and a Moms Demand Action volunteer, Laura Reeves — addressed the need for gun control legislation.
"[Our kids] have a job to do when they come to school," Bennet told the crowd. "Their job is not to fix American’s broken gun laws. Their job is not, as Kendrick so selflessly did yesterday, give up their own life to save their classmates' lives or their teachers' lives. That's not their job. They’re relying on the rest of us to do our job so they can do their job."