Scenes from the March for Our Lives in Montpelier Credit: Jeb Wallace-Brodeur
It wasn’t quite as historic as the Women’s March in January 2017, but the March for Our Lives gun control rally attracted at least 2,000 people to Montpelier Saturday. The crowd spilled down from the Statehouse steps, all the way back to State Street. Most gathered on the paved surfaces, but many stood in the snow in the chilly sunshine.

Handmade signs were everywhere. Giant banners hung near the front, in the unmistakable style of the Bread and Puppet Theater. Middle school, high school and college students gathered in great numbers, but the crowd ranged in age from toddlers to senior citizens — some of whom were part of the protest movements of the 1960s.

“I grew up during the demonstrations and protests,” said Kate Rader of East Montpelier, who was carrying a banner from the League of Women Voters. “At the very least, we’re modeling how to bring about change in a peaceful, loud and bold way.” Her fellow banner carrier, Madeline Motta of Stowe, hoped that students’ engagement in gun protests would lead to activism at the ballot box in November.

The Montpelier rally was one of at least 800 events around the world. The largest, in Washington, D.C., attracted hundreds of thousands. For some at the local event, it’s an issue with personal, as well as political, dimensions.

“There has been a gun threat recently at my school,” said Renee Bamford, who attends Essex High School. “Every time you see someone open a door, your heart kind of skips a beat.”

Brigitte Riordan attends the University of Vermont; she grew up in Las Vegas, and experienced last October’s mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival from a heartrending distance. “I knew several people who were at the festival. I didn’t know anyone who was shot, but it was definitely very intense,” she said. “It was difficult to be [in Burlington]; I was aching for my community.”

“I’ve gone through my whole life having to do code-red drills,” said UVM student Jasmine Stein, who grew up in the Washington area in the aftermath of the D.C. sniper shootings. “We need common sense gun reform.”

Students without that kind of direct experience said they are still deeply affected. “This has gone on too long,” said Siyanda Jacobs of Wardsboro. “There should have been gun control since [the] Columbine [school shooting in 1999]. Kids shouldn’t have to fear going to school. That’s a place to learn.”

At least a dozen state lawmakers were on hand, the morning after a marathon 10-hour debate in the House led to approval for S.55, a bill that includes multiple gun restrictions. When asked if the rally was a validation of the previous day’s work, Rep. Mary Hooper (D-Montpelier) said, “Absolutely, but we need to keep working on this. Listen to the kids and do the right thing.”

One of those kids trying to make a difference was 13-year-old gubernatorial candidate Ethan Sonneborn of Bristol, who attended the rally to show support for the issue and for youth activism in general.

“I wish it were under better circumstances,” he said. “I wish it didn’t take a tragedy like Parkland to bring young people together like this. But while we’re in this moment, it’s a great opportunity to make change.”

After an hour or so of speakers, the vast majority of them students, the rally ended peacefully. Those in attendance walked past tables staffed by advocacy groups, urging them to continue their activism and register to vote. Which may be the ultimate test of this movement: Can it turn a generation of young people into active participants in the political process?

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John Walters was the political columnist for Seven Days from 2017-2019. A longtime journalist, he spent many years as a news anchor and host for public radio stations in Michigan and New Hampshire. He’s the author of Roads Less Traveled: Visionary New...

32 replies on “Walters: Thousands Attend March for Our Lives Rally in Montpelier”

  1. I’ve got to ask how many of those thousands were Vermonters. I live in Montpelier, and rather than missing the mob of cars by going through National Life I ran into it. Out of curiosity I swung through the parking lot. I saw a lot of out of state license plates, maybe 20%. That tells me that there really was people from out of state, either volunteering themselves or being recruited.

    Regardless of your stance on this issue, if you are intellectually and emotionally honest with yourself, out of state protestors to swell a rally is dirty politics. I’ve been politically active my entire life, and I’ve never gone to a rally in a neighboring state to add my weight to to the scale, nor have I ever been asked to do so. Shame on the organizers, and shame on anyone who thinks that this is an OK to manage VT politics.

  2. KDinVT – Did it not occur to you that some of those in attendance were college students? If you spend any time in Chittenden County, you’ll see lots of out of state lates. Must everything be a conspiracy? Shame on you for jumping to conclusions.

  3. Thousands! Are you kidding me? There weren’t even a few hundred there. Look at the webcam images from the camera way up on the hill in front of the capitol building. Seven Days Vermont, bringing their biased story telling to whole new levels. The propaganda machine is churning full throttle.

  5. Does it matter that there were cars with out of state plates in the parking lot? No. The violence and death that comes from the barrels of these weapons is a national and a human problem.
    Attempting to dismiss the significance of the movement against the insanity that surrounds this issue by such camouflage is an act of desperation. The NRA and its supporters, primarily the gun lobby, at least financially, are on the wrong side of this issue and they know is, but they don’t care as long as they can profit. It’s not “freedom” that drives them, it’s blood money and profiting from the continued desecration of schools, the murder of children and the breakdown of civility and trust.

  6. There is more of a violent threat to their daily lives and it is called texting and driving. From a 2016 study 68% of teens text and drive, how much has that increased in 2 years. You want to make a difference in your lives without taking away my constitutional right, fight the smartphone. That is your threat daily.

    I find the youth hypocritical. How about we all be responsible for our own lives.

    All they are looking for is their 15 minutes of fame.

  7. Ah, the last miserable snowfakes of Spring in Vermont. Looking forward to hot Summer target practice. New gun classes, newly built target ranges, certificates earned certifying competency, school competitions in target shooting, and armed employees in schools…. all these things need to be strongly promoted now to get the dangers of passive submission out of Vermont. Make Vermont Strong Again… safe and affordable.

  8. To those of you who are coming here or came here and our trying to change around our way of living. Why is that acceptable? Why is it okay for people to move here and change the way Vermont is? I grew up here. We took our guns to school, we left them leaning against the school building. No one came in and took them. Why? Because we respected each others properties and lives. We were brought up with morals understanding the difference between right and wrong.

  9. I’ve yet to see an article about actual homicide and violent crime rates, here or in the nation from seven days.
    Something that should matter if you want to pass laws

  10. Doom. Seven Days doens’t do facts, just propaganda and fairy tales. It’s time their advertisers are made aware of the type of company they are supporting.

  11. I think the march was awesome and I hope they keep it up. It’s been 10 years since congress has done any gun control reform and it should be done! Why are assault weapons legal anyway? It’s the NRA paying congress so they won’t vote against them, they should stand up like real men and vote against them.

  12. You have got to realize that Walters is one of the biggest snowflakes around. I don’t think he ever has left the blogger environment. There were hundreds there, not thousands, but thousands makes a better headline.
    Walters’ writing reminds me of an old Mad Mag article headlined “STRIKE CALLED THOUSANDS WALK OUT”. As you read on this was the last batter in the world series being called out on strikes.
    I guess in the real world headlines are more important than content.

  14. I was there. I was there for the women’s march, too. There were definitely a few thousand, but not nearly as many as for the women’s march. There were quite a few hundred that had gathered early, but by noon, there were definitely a couple thousand. I came over from NH instead of going to the Concord march as there was some shopping I wanted to do in Montpelier prior. Sorry to disappoint the NRA crowd, no big plot.

  15. These people have a right to march but all voices should have been heard. The amendments made after public hearings were done is just not fair and equitable. I find that s.55 is a badly written piece of legislation that will not solve the problem of young men acting out in a violent fashion. The amendments added by the House do nothing to protect children or the general population from the bad actors in our society. These measures only restrict honest law abiding citizens. Criminals can and will ignore these laws. We as a society must find the root cause of the violence. If we do not solve this puzzle, no law prohibiting any device or tool will serve to eliminate future tragedy. I note that the Texas Bomber was a young man who shopped at Home Depot for his bomb making supplies.This bill if passed, will do nothing to restrict criminals such as the felon who recently opened fire on the streets of Burlington. This Felon was prohibited under current law from having a firearm. Criminals do not abide by firearms laws. I would say the first step might be taking these young men off of prescription medications that can cause erratic behavior. I ask the Senate to reject the amendments as written. This Voter asks the Governor to refuse to sign this bill.

  16. Walter Moses: “Mr. Hoffer, as I recall Montpelier is in Washington County, not Chittenden County.”

    You might have missed it, but we now have roads connecting various communities in Vermont.

  17. Pulled/downloaded the cover photo for this article. It is blatantly Photoshopped to fill in the empty areas and make it look like more people were there. The entire left side was filled to cover the empty space. Not one of the images shows anywhere even close to one thousand much less “thousands” of people. The webcam overlooking the Capitol Building from the hill in front, shows a few hundred people at best. You can count the heads easily.

    Seven Days may have 1st amendment protections but that doesn’t include Fraud.

  18. Mr. Hoffer, “we now have roads connecting various communities…….”
    Darn it! I should have thought of that. Glad the State Auditor pointed it out. Jeez, another senior moment.

  19. When FreedomtoThink is latching onto the “It Was Photoshopped!” defense, you know these kids are winning.

  20. The picture is not photoshopped. I was there, on the steps, and have many pics from that position and the crowd was larger than 2500-easily. My pics don’t show a 1/4 of the crowd and they still show more than 2500.

  22. I was there…an officer told me he counted “at least 2,000″….but isn’t it idiotic that the ONLY comment the pro-assault rifle crowd has is about the size of the crowd? That’s it? That’s all they got? They’re like that kid who would argue with you but you politely cut him some slack because you knew he clearly was clueless and you almost felt sorry for the loser he was.

  23. I was there and I think the number was more like 5,000. Take 100 people per row and take it back to the DMV building at least 200 rows…maybe more. Dont diminish this movement with distractions and fallacies…its real its happening. Best support our kids or history will not be kind. Cheers!

  24. Freedomtothink just laughable propaganda from a gun aficionado that wasnt there…totally false!

  25. I went to the rally – yes, there were at least 2,500 if not more : no photoshopping needed ! People of all ages , but nice to see a large proportion of young people & couples with kids . Many great & original signs & lots of passion and energy. A good rally that left me feeling that lots more young people will become involved in Vermont politics in the next few years…..whether as informed voters, or citizen lobbyists, or deciding to run for office. We all need to be involved in whatever way we can, to make democracy work.
    That’s all of us, gun rights supporters as well as gun laws supporters…..we all have good points to make, and don’t need to tear down the people we disagree with, to make them. We’re blessed to be in a state that makes our legislature so accessible to us.

  26. The NRA is going down just like the KKK. The NRA is responsible for just as much misery and death, and the majority of the country is sick and tired of living in a war zone for no reason other than lobbyists buying our politicians and policies.

    You can own a a gun, you can own ten guns, you can hunt and you can protect yourself. But if you want to own a war machine, move to Afghanistan or Syria or Bhutan. Shame on every one who puts gun rights over our children’s rights to grow and live in peace without being taught to cower in terror in closets.

  27. The NRA is going down just like the KKK. The NRA is responsible for just as much misery and death, and the majority of the country is sick and tired of living in a war zone for no reason other than lobbyists buying our politicians and policies. You can own a a gun, you can own ten guns, you can hunt and you can protect yourself. But if you want to own a war machine, move to Afghanistan or Syria or Bhutan.

    I don’t want to live in a country where any civilian can stock up on military assault rifles or rocket launchers or nukes. Owning a military weapon ought to be a process harder than buying cigarettes. Shame on every one who puts gun rights over our children’s rights to grow and live in peace without being taught to cower in terror in closets.

  29. Sheep may safely graze. Meanwhile, we learn that David Hogg was not even at the school at the time of the “attack”. Survivor… LOL. He admitted that he was home, even though in his first interviews he shows his video of being in a closet at the school, reporting on the shooting. He is a liar, an agent for the deep state, and with the Vermont news parroting the paranoid lies about the event, our Legislature voted to trash the 2nd Amendment. Residents of Vermont might have a different plan.

  30. Timothy Price – your assertion about David Hogg is wrong. See http://www.politifact.com/florida/statemen…. Even InfoWars and RedState have retracted this spiteful claim when it was irrefutably demonstrated to be untrue.

    Trying to defame and slime a kid who was there and has to live with what happened is pretty damn low. Honestly it’s hard to imagine lower.

  31. Look at Marylands gun laws and see how many were broken by the school shooter. They already had more gun laws than Vt. ever had. The shooter didnt care. He did what he did. School kids need to check in on the outcasts instead of being in their clique. Change their life before they change yours. Gun laws are not the problem.

  32. How strange, the aforementioned webcam overlooking the Capital Building has disappeared from the internet. Poof! Gone for the first time in the several years I’ve been monitoring it.. What a coincidence.

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