Scenes from the March for Our Lives in Montpelier Credit: Jeb Wallace-Brodeur

It wasn’t quite as historic as the Women’s March in January 2017, but the March for Our Lives gun control rally attracted at least 2,000 people to Montpelier Saturday. The crowd spilled down from the Statehouse steps, all the way back to State Street. Most gathered on the paved surfaces, but many stood in the snow in the chilly sunshine.

Handmade signs were everywhere. Giant banners hung near the front, in the unmistakable style of the Bread and Puppet Theater. Middle school, high school and college students gathered in great numbers, but the crowd ranged in age from toddlers to senior citizens — some of whom were part of the protest movements of the 1960s.

“I grew up during the demonstrations and protests,” said Kate Rader of East Montpelier, who was carrying a banner from the League of Women Voters. “At the very least, we’re modeling how to bring about change in a peaceful, loud and bold way.” Her fellow banner carrier, Madeline Motta of Stowe, hoped that students’ engagement in gun protests would lead to activism at the ballot box in November.

The Montpelier rally was one of at least 800 events around the world. The largest, in Washington, D.C., attracted hundreds of thousands. For some at the local event, it’s an issue with personal, as well as political, dimensions.

“There has been a gun threat recently at my school,” said Renee Bamford, who attends Essex High School. “Every time you see someone open a door, your heart kind of skips a beat.”

Brigitte Riordan attends the University of Vermont; she grew up in Las Vegas, and experienced last October’s mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival from a heartrending distance. “I knew several people who were at the festival. I didn’t know anyone who was shot, but it was definitely very intense,” she said. “It was difficult to be [in Burlington]; I was aching for my community.”

“I’ve gone through my whole life having to do code-red drills,” said UVM student Jasmine Stein, who grew up in the Washington area in the aftermath of the D.C. sniper shootings. “We need common sense gun reform.”

Students without that kind of direct experience said they are still deeply affected. “This has gone on too long,” said Siyanda Jacobs of Wardsboro. “There should have been gun control since [the] Columbine [school shooting in 1999]. Kids shouldn’t have to fear going to school. That’s a place to learn.”

At least a dozen state lawmakers were on hand, the morning after a marathon 10-hour debate in the House led to approval for S.55, a bill that includes multiple gun restrictions. When asked if the rally was a validation of the previous day’s work, Rep. Mary Hooper (D-Montpelier) said, “Absolutely, but we need to keep working on this. Listen to the kids and do the right thing.”

One of those kids trying to make a difference was 13-year-old gubernatorial candidate Ethan Sonneborn of Bristol, who attended the rally to show support for the issue and for youth activism in general.

“I wish it were under better circumstances,” he said. “I wish it didn’t take a tragedy like Parkland to bring young people together like this. But while we’re in this moment, it’s a great opportunity to make change.”

After an hour or so of speakers, the vast majority of them students, the rally ended peacefully. Those in attendance walked past tables staffed by advocacy groups, urging them to continue their activism and register to vote. Which may be the ultimate test of this movement: Can it turn a generation of young people into active participants in the political process?

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John Walters was the political columnist for Seven Days from 2017-2019. A longtime journalist, he spent many years as a news anchor and host for public radio stations in Michigan and New Hampshire. He’s the author of Roads Less Traveled: Visionary New England Lives, published by Plaidswede Press.

32 replies on “Walters: Thousands Attend March for Our Lives Rally in Montpelier”

  1. The picture is not photoshopped. I was there, on the steps, and have many pics from that position and the crowd was larger than 2500-easily. My pics don’t show a 1/4 of the crowd and they still show more than 2500.

  2. When FreedomtoThink is latching onto the “It Was Photoshopped!” defense, you know these kids are winning.

  3. Mr. Hoffer, “we now have roads connecting various communities…….”
    Darn it! I should have thought of that. Glad the State Auditor pointed it out. Jeez, another senior moment.

  4. Pulled/downloaded the cover photo for this article. It is blatantly Photoshopped to fill in the empty areas and make it look like more people were there. The entire left side was filled to cover the empty space. Not one of the images shows anywhere even close to one thousand much less “thousands” of people. The webcam overlooking the Capitol Building from the hill in front, shows a few hundred people at best. You can count the heads easily.

    Seven Days may have 1st amendment protections but that doesn’t include Fraud.

  5. Walter Moses: “Mr. Hoffer, as I recall Montpelier is in Washington County, not Chittenden County.”

    You might have missed it, but we now have roads connecting various communities in Vermont.

  6. These people have a right to march but all voices should have been heard. The amendments made after public hearings were done is just not fair and equitable. I find that s.55 is a badly written piece of legislation that will not solve the problem of young men acting out in a violent fashion. The amendments added by the House do nothing to protect children or the general population from the bad actors in our society. These measures only restrict honest law abiding citizens. Criminals can and will ignore these laws. We as a society must find the root cause of the violence. If we do not solve this puzzle, no law prohibiting any device or tool will serve to eliminate future tragedy. I note that the Texas Bomber was a young man who shopped at Home Depot for his bomb making supplies.This bill if passed, will do nothing to restrict criminals such as the felon who recently opened fire on the streets of Burlington. This Felon was prohibited under current law from having a firearm. Criminals do not abide by firearms laws. I would say the first step might be taking these young men off of prescription medications that can cause erratic behavior. I ask the Senate to reject the amendments as written. This Voter asks the Governor to refuse to sign this bill.

  7. I was there. I was there for the women’s march, too. There were definitely a few thousand, but not nearly as many as for the women’s march. There were quite a few hundred that had gathered early, but by noon, there were definitely a couple thousand. I came over from NH instead of going to the Concord march as there was some shopping I wanted to do in Montpelier prior. Sorry to disappoint the NRA crowd, no big plot.

  9. You have got to realize that Walters is one of the biggest snowflakes around. I don’t think he ever has left the blogger environment. There were hundreds there, not thousands, but thousands makes a better headline.
    Walters’ writing reminds me of an old Mad Mag article headlined “STRIKE CALLED THOUSANDS WALK OUT”. As you read on this was the last batter in the world series being called out on strikes.
    I guess in the real world headlines are more important than content.

  10. I think the march was awesome and I hope they keep it up. It’s been 10 years since congress has done any gun control reform and it should be done! Why are assault weapons legal anyway? It’s the NRA paying congress so they won’t vote against them, they should stand up like real men and vote against them.

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