After a shooting injured one student outside of East High School last week, a teacher and two students urged city officials on Tuesday demanded concrete action, even as they shared their fears of gun violence in public education settings.
The teacher and students spoke during the public hearing portion of the Denver City Council's regular meeting just a few days after a 16-year-old student, identified as Luis Garcia, was injured as he sat in his car outside East High School. As of Wednesday, he remains in critical condition.
With children behind them wearing "students demand action" shirts, students Teo Tullar and Ezekiel Lubin begged the 13 members of the city council to act, saying gun violence in and around schools should be "not be accepted."
"We're scared and horrified and terrified of all these of these actions, but we're not shocked by gun violence anymore," Lubin said. "These are the schools that your children will grow up going to. Your children."
He challenged city council members to think of their legacy, as well as student safety, and asked if they'd rather be remembered as those who sat idly by as more children are killed — or be the one to take a stand against gun and youth violence.
Tullar, who said students do not want to be at school because they do not feel safe, challenged the council to do something.
"We can't be the ones headlining this," he said. "We are the ones who have to comply and we have to go to school, and we are not able to do anything to defend ourselves."
Noah Kaplan, a former East High School teacher and a lifelong resident of Denver, demanded tangible steps and action from Denver Public Schools, the city council and the school board to increase student safety. He told the council he is tired of having the same discussions with children whose classmates are affected by gun violence.
"I am so tired of having to explain to children why we need to set up a GoFundMe campaign to support the livelihoods of their classmates' families," he said. "These children are here today because they are tired of asking for help. We are demanding action."
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said East High School students urged the Denver City Council to reinstate Denver Police Department school resource officers at Department Public Schools. This story has since been updated.
