Hoboken, NJ - Wednesday, April 18th, 2018
Hoboken Mayor Ravinder S. Bhalla will join a student-organized protest rally to end gun violence on Friday, April 20 from 4-5 p.m. at City Hall. The rally is scheduled on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre.
“If we fight back against the lobbyists and legislators keeping us from enacting effective gun control measures, we can prevent a tragedy like Columbine from happening to our community,” said Bhalla. “The right to life is the first unalienable right Thomas Jefferson declared for our country, and I am so proud of our young students for leading the charge on this important issue.”
The event is hosted by Hoboken members of Students Demand Action Hudson County as well as Moms Demand Action Hudson County.
“I don’t intend to politicize a tragedy that happened before I was even born,” said 13-year-old Hoboken student Toby Platt, an organizer of the rally, “but children’s lives are apolitical, and we need to discuss solutions to gun violence in schools. The fact is, school shootings have been commonplace my entire life. Mass shooter drills are part of the learning routine – my school had one just this morning. While I shouldn’t have to fight for my own, or others’, right to live, I will do everything I can to make sure my community never has to know the pain so many have had to face.”
The event will honor the victims of Columbine with a reading of their names. In addition to Bhalla, speakers will include Platt, Councilwoman Emily Jabbour, and Hoboken students and educators.
