The March For Our Lives was created by survivors of the February 14th shooting in Parkland Florida which took the lives of 17 people inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The event has become a massive undertaking, with "sound systems, 14 Jumbotrons, 2,000 chairs, 2,000 portable johns and 14 tents." That may sound like a lot, but it's pretty on-par for a gathering of 500,000. Protestors were planning to march down an 11-block route through the Washington Mall, but the National Park Service has just denied their application. Apparently, another group had first dibs on the Mall: a school making a film for their talent show.
Mike Litterst, a spokesperson for the National Parks Service, told NPR that reservations are first-come, first-served:
By regulation, when there is a conflict of time and location for events, precedence is established by the order in which the permit application was received.
The talent show filming, whose hand-written application was submitted prior to the March's, is described as a student project requiring 7 cameras, tripods, and go-pros, game supplies "including small boxes, 2 tables, 2 bikes, and jumping ropes."
One might think it silly that a group needing only two tables and game supplies to film a school project is displacing half a million people protesting one of the pivotal issues of our time, but fair is fair. Unless a separate arrangement is reached with the school talent show, the March For Our Lives will need a new location, and they've been looking at a route that begins on Capitol Hill and ends on the steps of the Trump International Hotel. This new stretch is under the jurisdiction of the District of Colombia, unlike the Washington Mall, which is under federal control.
Though the D.C. march has hit a small snag, the March For Our Lives has events all across the nation. A post on the organization's Facebook page reads:
On March 24 we will take to the streets of Washington, DC and our communities across the country. We will be the last group of students who have to stand up for fallen children due to senseless gun violence. March with us.
Many celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, and Steven Spielberg have donated money to the cause or plan to attend themselves!