Saturday, February 17, 2018
Three Billboards protest takes aim at Marco Rubio in call for gun control after Florida school shooting
Campaigners took inspiration from Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri to call for gun control in the wake of a school shooting that killed 17.
It is the second time in a week that activists have emulated the movie after Grenfell Tower protesters carried out a similar stunt in London.
The Florida placards were driven around Miami on Friday to put pressure on its Republican senator after the high school massacre this week in Florida.
Campaigners took inspiration from Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri to call for gun control in the wake of a school shooting that killed 17.
It is the second time in a week that activists have emulated the movie after Grenfell Tower protesters carried out a similar stunt in London.
The Florida placards were driven around Miami on Friday to put pressure on its Republican senator after the high school massacre this week in Florida.
Emma Ruby-Sachs, Avaaz's deputy director, said: "The senator has taken fire across the country for his toothless response to the shooting, calling it 'inexplicable'. We call that inexcusable.
"Florida has notoriously lax gun laws and Rubio, who is supported by the NRA, has never attempted to reform them.
"There have been 334 mass shootings in last 12 months, and yet no new federal gun laws since 1994."
The protest followed a similar one in London on Thursday which highlighted the "lack of progress" made since the Grenfell Tower fire that killed 71 people in June.
Meanwhile, Mr Rubio criticised the FBI after it admitted failing to investigate a tip-off last month that the shooting suspect, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, had a "desire to kill" and had access to guns.
The teenager has been charged with killing 17 people in the shooting spree at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Wednesday.
Peers described Cruz as a troubled individual and said there had been warning signs, while police have not offered a motive but said he was previously expelled from the school.
Reports, citing law enforcement officials, said Cruz legally purchased the the assault rifle in Florida in February last year having passed a background check.
The massacre has once again sparked a debate over availability of firearms in the US, with the country already having seen eight school shootings that have caused death or injury this year.
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