A group of students from Marshall County High School are joining national protests on walkout day. The students loaded into a bus and traveled more than 200 miles to demonstrate at the state capitol for safer schools.
Keaton Conner is a 16-year-old student at Marshall County High School, where police say a student used a semi-automatic handgun to open fire on classmates, leaving two dead and injuring several others nearly two months ago.
Conner was among those protesting for safer schools at the ‘Students United Rally’ in Frankfort, Kentucky. She said a group of about 5 students from her high school coordinated with students from Franklin Public School District to be present at the rally.
She said she spent several weeks grieving after the shooting. She said the students in Parkland, Florida have inspired her to be more vocal.
“You can’t help but ask yourself, if we would have spoken out as soon as they did, and we would have made out voices heard, would it have happened to them? I know that’s not fair for us to ask...but it’s the truth,” said Conner.
Conner and other students gave speeches at the rally. She said they also had plans to meet with lawmakers.
“We want to be part of the conversation. We want them to ask our opinions and we want them to hear us out. Just because we can’t vote and we can’t be in positions of authority, doesn’t mean that our voices shouldn’t be heard, especially when it’s something that’s affecting us so heavily,” said Conner.
She said participating in these demonstrations is helping her move on from the events of January 23. She said she wants to use her experience to push for change.
“I want people to hear my story and I want them to be sad so that they want to do something about it. I think that’s very important," said Conner. "I understand that some people don’t want to do that, but those of us who can need to.”
Keaton said she has gotten a certain amount of criticism for her involvement with the protests, but she said she has also gotten an overwhelming amount of support from family and friends.
Three state bills addressing the safe storage of firearms are stalled in committee with little more than a week left in the general assembly.
