Thousands of students and Americans are protesting gun violence Sunday at marches in Washington and cities around the United States. This movement is not lost on senior Grayson Allen, who commented on the topic a week and a half ago.
On March 14, Allen and freshman Marvin Bagley III were asked to comment about high school kids walking out of class protesting gun violence. Bagley deferred to the team's captain for a response. Allen said he thought the protests were "great" as long as they were "pushing for some type of positive change."
"As far as, picking something to change, I'm honest and open enough to say, I don't know," he said. "But something—there has to be a change in something that we do as people, something we do as a country, because there is so much violence, so much of it is affecting families. So much of it is just unwarranted and senseless, that is really—it's troubling."
The protests today were sparked by a shooting in a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida—Allen is also from that state.
Here are his full comments:
"I think one of the things is that there's obviously a problem when you see so many—so much violence in your country. As far as, picking something to change, I'm honest and open enough to say, I don't know. But something—there has to be a change in something that we do as people, something we do as a country, because there is so much violence, so much of it is affecting families. So much of it is just unwarranted and senseless, that is really—it's troubling. It's really troubling.
"And anybody who knows it or follows it, you have to kind of be moved by it, because you see how much of a problem it is, and how really heartbreaking it is to see just loss of lives over nothing, over senseless violence. So, I think, you know, the protests are great. You know, as long as we're pushing for some type of positive change, but, again, I can't sit up here and say I want a certain thing to be changed. I don't know exactly what it is."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.
Class of 2019
Editor-in-chief 2017-18,
Local and national news department head 2016-17
Born in Hyderabad, India, Likhitha Butchireddygari moved to Baltimore at a young age. She is pursuing a Program II major entitled "Digital Democracy and Data" about the future of the American democracy.