Andrew Pollack, a man who tragically lost his daughter Meadow in the South Florida school shooting gave a powerful speech on in front of world yesterday.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdzhzc3SL8E&w=560&h=315]
Here is a partial transcript:Â
I’m here because my daughter has no voice.
She was murdered last week, and she was taken from us, shot nine times on the third floor. We as a country failed our children. This shouldn’t happen. We go to the airport, I can’t get on a plane with a bottle of water, but we leave some animal to walk into a school and shoot our children. It is just not right.
And we need come together as a country and work on what’s important.
And that is protecting our children in the schools. That’s the only thing that matters right now. Everyone has to come together and not think about different laws. We need to come together as a country, not different parties, and figure out how we protect the schools. It is simple.
It is not difficult. We protect airports. We protect concerts, stadiums, embassies. The Department of Education that I walked in today that has a security guard in the elevator. How do you think that makes me feel? In the elevator they got a security guard. I’m very angry that this happened, because it keeps happening.
9/11 happened once, and they fixed everything. How many schools, how many children have to get shot? It stops here with this administration and me. I’m not going to sleep until it is fixed. And Mr. President, we’re going to fix it. Because I’m going to fix it. I’m not going to rest.
And my boys need live with this. I want to see everyone — you guys look at this. Me, I’m — I’m a man, but to see your children go through this, bury their sister. That’s what I keep saying because I want to sink in. Not forget about this. We can’t forget about it.
All these school shootings, it doesn’t make sense. Fix it.
Should have been one school shooting and we should have fixed it. And I’m pissed. Because my daughter I’m not going to see again. She’s not here. She’s not here. She’s in North Lauderdale at … King David Cemetery. That is where I go to see my kid now.
And if we all work together and come up with the right idea — school safety. It is not about gun laws. That is another fight, another battle. Let’s fix the schools and then you guys can battle it out whatever you want. But we need our children safe. Monday, tomorrow, whatever day it is, your kids are going to go to school. You think everyone’s kids are safe?
I didn’t think it was going to happen to me. If I knew that, I would have been at the school every day if I knew it was that dangerous. It’s enough. Let’s get together, work with the president and fix the schools. That’s it. No other discussions. … I’m never going to see my kid again. … Never, ever will I see my kid. I want it to sink in. It’s eternity. My beautiful daughter I’m never going to see again. And it’s simple. It’s not — we can fix it.
