A march first announced by students who attend the Florida high school where 17 people were shot and killed by a man with a history of mental health issues last month has morphed into a worldwide anti-gun, anti-Second Amendment, anti-Trump protest directed, promoted, and funded by left-wing adults and adult-led organizations.
According to the March of Our Lives website, hundreds of cities across the country and even around the world will be protesting on Saturday in favor of gun restrictions, including banning certain types of guns, age limits for gun purchases, and background checks required for every gun sale.
The Associated Press is reporting that as many as one million people will attend the main march in D.C., and the National Park Service (NPS) issued a permit showing it is planning for 500,000 people on and around the National Mall on Saturday.
The march in D.C. officially begins at noon along Pennsylvania Avenue, but the National Park Service permit puts the official time for the spaces being reserved from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
The Florida teens spotlighted by the media leading up to the march say it is about youth and its “gun control” message, but documents show that adults are responsible for much of the D.C. event and so-called “sibling” marches, including putting into place the logistics necessary to pull it off.
The March for Our Lives Action Fund, for example, was registered with the District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs on Feb. 21, 2018 as a Deleware-based organization with a business address in Encino, California.
The agent for the fund is listed as CT Corporation System, a D.C.-based firm that handles compliance issues. Jeri Rhodes is listed as the executing officer for the filing.
Rhodes is the Associate Executive Secretary for Finance and Administration for the Friends Committee on National Legislation, which is a Quaker lobbying group with the goal to “advance peace and justice.”
Rhodes’ LinkedIn profile states that she once worked for Greenpeace.
BuzzFeed News spoke with some of the “major players” behind the march last month:
Major players and organizations — including Everytown, Giffords, Move On, and Women’s March LA — told BuzzFeed News they are helping with logistics, strategy, and planning for next month’s March for Our Lives rally and beyond. Much of the specific resources the groups are providing to the Parkland students remains unclear — as is the full list of supporting organizations — but there are broad outlines.
Giffords, an organization started by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) that fights gun violence, is working with Everytown and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America to plan the main march on Washington — as well as sister rallies across the country.
A spokesperson for Giffords told BuzzFeed News that it is “lending support in any way the students need, especially helping to operationalize these marches from logistics to programming.”
“We applaud these students for demonstrating incredible leadership and demanding that our lawmakers do more to help protect Americans from gun violence,” the Giffords spokesperson said in the BuzzFeed News report.
Planned Parenthood and the George Soros-funded Move On are also in the mix of left-wing groups behind the march.
BuzzFeed News reported, “MoveOn said it will encourage its millions of members to follow and promote the March for Our Lives movement on social media and attend the rally” and would help with security and other logistics.
A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood said it is “teaching and hosting trainings” for teens “to keep momentum going so they don’t get burned out,” BuzzFeed News reported.
The NPS permit reveals “persons in charge” of the D.C. event, including Deena Katz, the co-executive producer of Dancing with the Stars who helped organized the Los Angeles Women’s March.
Other “persons in charge” are Matt Hall, Ann Marie Hoffman, Paul Sorenson, and James Day.
March for Our Lives also started a GoFundMe page that has raised $3.3 million. The text on the page states:
The funds will be spent on the incredibly difficult and expensive process that is organizing a march like this. We have people making more specific plans, but for now, know that this is for the march and everything left over will be going to the victims’ funds.
NBA Miami Heat player Dewayne Wade donated $200,000 to the march and urged others to do the same on Twitter earlier this month.
There is no list of supporters or donors on the March for Our Lives official website, and a map of the locations for all the marches allegedly taking place on Saturday includes this cryptic message: “Note that information on accessing grants to support sibling marches will be emailed directly to registered host organizers.”
The NPS permit reveals more about the event, including the “event overview,” which states:
Approximately (500,000) student participants and adults from across the country, will no longer risk their lives waiting for someone else to take action to stop the epidemic of mass school shootings that has become all too familiar. In the tragic wake of the seventeen lives brutally cut shot in Florida, politicians are telling us that now is not the time to talk about guns. March for Our Lives believes the time is now.
The permit also says that the organizers have to spend millions on insurance for the event.
Procure public and employee liability insurance from responsible companies with a minimum limitation of $2,000,000 per person for any one claim and an aggregate limit of $5,000,000 for any number of claims arising from any one incident. The United States of America shall be named as an additional insured on all such policies. The permit number will be included on said policy.
There are also a number of celebrities that are taking part in the march, and some are performing. The March for our Lives website notes that Jennifer Hudson, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Common, Vic Mensa, Andra Day, and Miley Cyrus are scheduled for the event.
Nonetheless, the Florida students who are credited with organizing the march insist it is teens, not adults, who are in charge, while admitting adults are involved.
Cameron Kasky, 17, acknowledged that the anti-Trump group Indivisible is helping and said that their assistance is necessary because of the role race allegedly plays in school shootings. Kasky said in an interview on Friday with National Public Radio:
You know our story was told because we are an affluent white community and we have to shine the spotlight that was given on us on everybody in the world that has to deal with this on a daily basis. So people like Indivisible, who represent students who are in lower-income communities and don’t get to speak out the way we do because people don’t listen — we have to connect with these students.
The March for Our Lives Twitter account also features a video with students stating the anti-gun talking points used by left-wing groups regularly, including blaming the National Rifle Association for school shootings.
The March for Our Lives website states that 840 marches are planned in the U.S. and around the world.
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