NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Students, parents of students at the Covenant School and other members of the community protested outside the Capitol Monday as lawmakers convened for a special legislative session.
Legislators set rules and received committee assignments as part of Monday’s proceedings; under their rules, they are only permitted to speak about school vouchers, illegal immigration and relief for victims of Hurricane Helene. However, those rules did not stop protestors from gathering on the Capitol steps to speak up about school safety and gun legislation.
“The people on Capitol Hill aren’t the ones who are at risk of a school shooting. And here’s the thing: you can’t outfit every school in the state with scanners and the State Troopers that they have up there,” organizer Elliot Watson said. “But you know what they could do? They could make every single school in this state a million times safer. With the flick of a pen, Governor Lee could do this.”
State representative Jason Powell (R-Davidson County) called on Lee to address school shootings during this special legislative session, but as of publication, it has not been added to the agenda.
“I feel for Josselin Corea Escalante and her family,” Powell said at Monday’s protest. “I feel for all those students in Antioch High School who had to witness — and live with now for the rest of their lives — the trauma of a school shooting.”
Josselin Corea Escalante was killed in last week’s school shooting. Her father attended Monday’s protest, saying the fight for justice would persist.
“We are united together and we’re gonna keep fighting for justice for Josselin,” Escalante’s father said, according to a translation.
Antioch High School students shared their experiences as well, with several urging action on the part of lawmakers.
“We had no one to lean on but ourselves. We had nothing to protect ourselves,” an Antioch High School student said. “And what do we do? We run because we’re not safe. How are we supposed to sit here and say that everything is fine when it’s not?”
Other protestors also spoke, urging action to prevent future school shootings.
“Somebody died last week. Somebody lost their life. Somebody could not go home and hug their parent. This sucks and is unacceptable,” one of the protestors said. “They need to change this. They need to change it now.”
“I’m tired of marching,” another protestor said. “My feet are sore and my soul is weary. I’m tired of a legislature that puts guns over its students, but we keep fighting and we don’t stop.”
“No matter how hard they try to take us down, we can say with confidence that we will continue to rise up and we will continue to fight for the multiracial, multigenerational future that we all deserve because we all deserve to live free from the fear of gun violence,” protestor Luis Mata said.
In 2023, thousands gathered in protest at the Tennessee State Capitol following a deadly shooting at The Covenant School. Parents were once again on the Capitol steps Monday, speaking about the same issues.
“We need the same outpouring of love every single time for each and every baby,” Covenant parent Sarah Shoop Neumann said. “This is somebody’s baby who was lost. This is not a statistic.”