Meet Andrew and Hunter Pollack. Andrew lost his 18-year-old daughter, Meadow, when a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, and Hunter lost his beloved sister.
Hunter prepared a speech for the "March for Our Lives" rally in Washington on Saturday, calling for increased school safety to prevent the next school massacre. But according to Benny Johnson, a reporter for the Daily Caller, event organizers cut Hunter from the speaker lineup at the last minute.
Maybe he was cut because his family has not advocated for gun control. After all, Saturday's event was a gun control rally. Whatever the reason, Hunter was robbed of the opportunity to have a voice and honor his sister's life.
Thankfully, Hunter shared some of his prepared remarks in a video on Twitter.
"The hatred and sickness that fuels a killer to kill innocent students is something that most of us will never understand. But that doesn't mean it's something we can ignore," he said.
Hunter continued:
We need to be on a mission to stop these monsters before they take action inside our schools. We must demand our leaders to help those that who are sick, but we must also demand that they protect those of us that are not. In closing I ask you to say my sister’s name to yourself. It’s such a beautiful name. Meadow. If you say her name it’s impossible not to feel the beauty of who she was and who she will always be. Meadow. It makes me think of a sunny day like this one, a day when the sun shines on our youth and shines on our desire to live a safe and happy life.
I can feel Meadow right now, she's asking us to come together. She wants us to take my family's, and the parents of the victims, like my dad Andrew and Mr. Ryan Petty, and all of the others who are turning their grief into something positive. She says 'Thank you for continuing to fight for the survivors and students of all ages. Meadow's asking us to be smarter, to love and to share the common denominator we share, embrace this life, make the most of it, don't let it be wasted and do not allow it to be wasted by a weapon of any kind.
To my sister who is up in heaven, I promise you here today that dad and I, along with millions of people at our side, will do our best to make schools safe, so that this never happens again. We vow to protect America's children in a way you should have been protected. We will keep them safe from the killers and all the weapons they use until we meet again, Meadow. I miss you like crazy. I love you. We all love. May you shine on us today and every day going forward. Thank you.
Meet Andrew Pollack & his son Hunter. Andrew’s daughter, Meadow, was murdered in Parkland. Hunter was disinvited to speak today at the March For Our Lives. He prepared a beautiful speech about securing our schools.
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) March 24, 2018
You can watch it here:
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