Obama praises Parkland students on shooting anniversary: ‘I’m proud of all of them’

Former President Obama on Thursday praised the survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting on the anniversary of the massacre.

“In the year since their friends were killed, the students of Parkland refused to settle for the way things are and marched, organized, and pushed for the way things should be – helping pass meaningful new gun violence laws in states across the country,” Obama tweeted Thursday. “I’m proud of all of them.”

In the year since their friends were killed, the students of Parkland refused to settle for the way things are and marched, organized, and pushed for the way things should be – helping pass meaningful new gun violence laws in states across the country. I’m proud of all of them.

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 14, 2019

Seventeen students and staff were killed and over a dozen others were injured when a gunman, a former student at the school, opened fire on Valentine’s Day 2018.

{mosads}The survivors of the Parkland, Fla., shooting went on to push for gun control on the national stage.

Parkland students who launched the March For Our Lives movement after the shooting are planning to “go dark” on social media on Thursday to mark the first anniversary of the shooting.

President Trump issued a statement commemorating the anniversary of the shooting and highlighting his administration’s efforts on school safety.

“Melania and I join all Americans in praying for the continued healing of those in the Parkland community and all communities where lives have been lost to gun violence,” Trump said in the statement. “We reaffirm the bonds of faith, family, community, and country that unite us as one Nation.”

“Today, as we hold in our hearts each of those lost a year ago in Parkland, let us declare together, as Americans, that we will not rest until our schools are secure and our communities are safe.”

Though no widespread gun control laws have been passed on the federal level, a number of state lawmakers and governors instituted new laws on background checks and gun ownership in response to Parkland and a string of other school shootings last year.

Trump in December ordered a ban on bump stocks, devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire much more rapidly. A bump stock was used in the October 2017 Las Vegas massacre, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.