The “die-in” protest organized by Parkland, Fla., students quickly turned into a clash against Trump supporters on Friday.
Students led by David Hogg laid on the floor in honor of those killed in the Parkland shooting while chanting against the National Rifle Association (NRA).
“Hey, hey NRA, how many kids have you killed today?” the students said in one video captured by a local news station.
{mosads}Trump supporters, some wearing apparel featuring President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, surrounded the students and chanted the president’s name in return.
The protest took place at a Publix grocery store.
Publix became a target of gun control activists last week when it was reported the regional grocery chain had contributed $670,000 to the campaign of an NRA-backed Republican candidate for Florida governor.
Candidate Adam Putnam, a former GOP congressman and Florida’s agriculture commissioner, has described himself as a “proud NRA sellout” and staunch gun rights supporter.
“Publix can stand with us. They can pull out their half-million dollars from Putnam’s campaign and they can double that amount and donate it to the Stoneman Douglas victims fund,” Hogg said over a megaphone at the protest as he sparred with counterprotesters.
Publix has vowed to reassess its process for making political donations.
Community members, some of whom personally lost children in the Feb. 14 Parkland shooting, joined the protests early Friday morning by drawing chalk outlines for each of that shooting’s 17 victims on the store’s parking lot.
The Parkland students, who have become vocal advocates for congressional action on gun control, renewed their demands last week after a school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, left 10 people dead.