Mariah Cooley was at her high school during a lockdown in winter 2018.Ĭrosses made by Greg Zanis for the victims of the Santa Fe High School shooting are seen at the high school, on in Santa Fe, Texas. Between 20, at least 177 schools experienced a shooting, according to a CNN analysis completed in 2019. On average, CNN found that in the year following Parkland, there was a school shooting in the US every 12 days. “A real reality for many teens in America” These young people say the experience should help lawmakers understand – but they also say legislative change won’t come immediately, if at all. Young adults who grew up amid shootings and lockdown drills have shared this week that lawmakers at the Capitol on Wednesday – many of whom have resisted action on gun violence – now have experience dealing with the trauma students face. “I’m glad understand the fear and the feeling, but the situation in which caused them to feel that, it really infuriates me.” “The goal is to decrease the amount of people that experience what I experienced,” said Eastmond, who has testified before Congress twice, lobbied for legislation, and participated in last summer’s racial justice movement. Parkland survivor details her experience during shooting Americans are likely to struggle to put this moment into context for weeks, months, and years to come.PARKLAND, FL - FEBRUARY 18: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is seen on Februin Parkland, Florida. In a city that's already locked down due to the coronavirus pandemic, it's quite remarkable to see it locked down even further now due to significant security threats. They couldn't believe they were talking about whether a coup or a riot had happened just days before and that the transition of power in their country might not be secure. And pedestrians I met outside the Capitol stared simply in disbelief.

And at the Capitol itself, there are already more US troops guarding that seat of US democracy than there are US troops stationed abroad in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Somalia combined.Īs some of the troops told me, it's a moment they'll tell their grandkids about. The Department of Defence has now authorised 25,000 National Guard troops to protect the Capitol and the inauguration throughout the country. And you think, how was that built so long ago? And what we have now, technology and everything, it's amazing. What did you think when you walked inside the Capitol for the first time? We've had our training to handle and control and security, so if we need to. However, with the proper training that both Air Guard, National Guard, Capitol Police, everybody here, I think that this is probably one of the safest places in the nation right now. I mean, it's sad that our country does struggle with stuff like that because there's such a small percentage of people that want to take stuff to the extreme. I also caught up with some of the National Guard troops who have taken to sleeping inside the Capitol during their rest stops on its marbled halls inside the seat of US democracy.

And I saw troops there armed with assault rifles and pistols and an array of tactical vehicles in a zigzag on surrounding roads, barring entry to those for vehicles, and several roadblocks. I took a walk around the perimeter of the Capitol.

That's in the wake of a deadly attack by a mob of Trump supporters on the US Capitol earlier this month.

That's because thousands of troops have deluged the US Capitol to protect the transfer of power at the presidential inauguration due on Wednesday. This month, rather extraordinarily, I'm looking at US homeland defence. I'm Katrina Manson, and welcome to our US foreign policy and defence blog. You can enable subtitles (captions) in the video player

Us capitol on lockdown video