Students Protest After Anti-Gun Activists Hijack Vigil

Kendrick Castillo left this world a hero – one week before his high school graduation.

The 18-year-old lunged at one of two gunmen, a fellow student determined to kill. Castillo overpowered him but died in the process. 

A vigil honoring Kendrick last night dissolved into protest as students walked out and others chanted “political stunt” and “we are people, not a statement.” 

The demonstration occurred when Democrats used the memorial to advocate for gun control legislation. 

The New York Post reports:
 

The students from STEM High School, where two gunmen killed a student and wounded eight others Tuesday, began yelling from the stands that they “wanted to be heard” after two politicians and pro-gun control advocates addressed the crowd, according to the local NBC affiliate, KUSA.

They then stormed out of the vigil after Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet and Democratic Congressman Jason Crow addressed the crowd, the Denver Post reported.

…

The students returned, and some of them took the microphone, saying their grief was being used for political purposes.

…

Speaking of the lone fatality, 18-year-old Kendrick Castillo, another student added, “We wanted Kendrick to be mourned. We wanted all of you to join us in that mourning, but that was not allowed here. We all walked out. We were not kicked out.”

Before returning, students in the parking lot recorded themselves shouting expletives at the reporters present. 

The first accused shooter is a self-identified liberal. The second alleged gunman is transgender. Both struggle with profound mental illness.