Student survivors of the deadly Florida school shooting who hope to become the face of a revived gun control movement are on a potential collision course with US president Donald Trump.
Several of the students have criticised the president, whose election was strongly supported by the National Rifle Association and who ran on a platform opposing gun control.
Mr Trump spent the weekend at his estate in South Florida, only an hour’s drive from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where 17 people were fatally shot last week.
“You’re the president. You’re supposed to bring this nation together, not divide us,” said David Hogg, a 17-year-old student at the Florida school, speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press.
After more than a day of criticism from the students, the White House said the president would hold a “listening session” with unspecified students on Wednesday and meet on Thursday with state and local security officials.
Very sad that the FBI missed all of the many signals sent out by the Florida school shooter. This is not acceptable. They are spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion with the Trump campaign – there is no collusion. Get back to the basics and make us all proud!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 18, 2018
Florida politicians, meanwhile, scrambled to produce legislation in response to the February 14 attack.
Nikolas Cruz, a 19-year-old who had been expelled from the school, is being held without bail in the Broward County Jail, accused of 17 counts of first-degree murder.
In a TV interview, Republican Senator Marco Rubio embraced a Democratic bill in the Florida legislature to allow courts to temporarily prevent people from having guns if they are determined to be a threat to themselves or others.
Governor Rick Scott, also a Republican, attended a prayer vigil at the First Church Coral Springs, blocks from the shooting site. He is expected to announce a legislative package with GOP politicians this week.
On Sunday she cited Mr Trump, Mr Rubio and Mr Scott by name in a warning to politicians backed by the NRA.
“Now is the time to get on the right side of this, because this is not something that we are going to let sweep under the carpet,” she said on Meet the Press.
Seeking to increase pressure for gun control, the students plan to visit the state capitol in Tallahassee this week to demand immediate action. They are also calling for anti-gun violence demonstrations in Washington and other cities on March 24.
Organisers behind the Women’s March, an anti-Trump and female empowerment protest, called for a 17-minute, nationwide walkout by teachers and students on March 14.
“He’s just messed up,” he said. “I mean, tighter gun control, it’s not gonna help. There’s always a way around it.”
