Northwest students join walkout for stricter gun laws

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Students across the Northwest left class Wednesday to join a call by young activists for stricter gun laws.

Students throughout the country were asked to leave class for 17 minutes – one minute for each of the dead in last month’s massacre at a Florida high school.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown went to Roosevelt High School in Portland to show support. Brown tweeted that she was proud of the students, encouraged by the movement, and said federal legislators must do more to keep schools safe.

At Churchill High in Eugene, students gathered in the school courtyard at 10 a.m. for 17 minutes of silence and then marched down a road chanting: “Hey, hey, ho, ho, the NRA has to go.”

In Eastern Oregon, dozens of Pendleton High students gathered silently by a flagpole. An assistant principal monitored the event from afar and a police officer was on the scene.

Politicians in Washington state joined students who were walking out of class to protest against gun violence.

Governor Jay Inslee appeared at Ballard High School in Seattle.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan also joined students in a rally at the University of Washington’s Red Square.

The Seattle Public Schools board urged students to stay on campus, both voicing support for the movement but also warning students they would be unexcused for the absence.

In eastern Washington, Freeman High School in Rockford observed 18 minutes of silence, with the extra minute to honor their classmate who was killed in a shooting at the school last year.