President Donald Trump’s listening session at the White House on Wednesday reached an emotional high point when Samuel Zeif, one of the survivors of the Stoneman Douglas School Shooting from Parkland, Florida on Feb. 14, was handed the microphone.
“I was on the second floor, in that building. Texting my mom, texting my dad, texting three of my brothers that I was never going to see them again. And then it occurred to me that my 14-year-old brother was directly above me in that classroom where Scott Beigel was murdered. Scott Beigel got my brother in the class, he was the last kid to get back into that class,” Zeif began.
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Samuel Zeif, who was on second floor of freshman building during Stoneman Douglas shooting: “My 14-year-old brother was directly above me, in that classroom where Scott Beigel was murdered. Scott Beigel got my brother in the class.” https://t.co/qLL6Kp8HYo pic.twitter.com/i4a8PYodPV
— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 21, 2018
“That’s why I’m here. I lost a best friend, he was practically a brother. And I’m here to use my voice because I know he can’t. And I know he’s with me, cheering me on to be strong but it’s hard. And to feel like this, it doesn’t even feel like a week. Time has stood still. To feel like this ever, I can’t feel comfortable in my country knowing that people have, will have, ever going to feel like this. I want to feel safe at school,” he added.
Survivor of the Stoneman Douglas school shooting tells Pres. Trump that time has ‘stood still’ since the massacre: “I can’t feel comfortable in my country knowing that people have, will have, ever gonna feel like this.” https://t.co/OTfbk9b9rz pic.twitter.com/IT7niv8h3n
— ABC News (@ABC) February 21, 2018
“I don’t understand,” Zeif continued. “I turned 18 the day after. (I) woke up to the news that my best friend was gone. And I don’t understand how I can still go into a store and buy a weapon of war, an AR.”
Zeif was referencing the AR-15 used by 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, the former Stoneman Douglas student who opened fire wielding the semi-automatic rifle to kill 14 children and three adults in the third deadliest school shooting in United States history.
“How is is that easy?” Zeif asked President Trump. “To buy this type of weapon. How have we not stopped this after Columbine, after Sandy Hook? I’m sitting with a mother that lost her son. It’s still happening. In Australia there was a shooting at a school in 1999. You know after that they took a lot of ideas, they put legislation together, and they stopped it. Can anyone here guess how many shootings there have been in schools since then in Australia? Zero.”
“How is it that easy to buy this type of weapon?” Stoneman Douglas student Samuel Zeif says. “How do we not stop this after Columbine? After Sandy Hook? I’m sitting with a mother that lost her son. It is still happening.” https://t.co/qLL6Kp8HYo pic.twitter.com/UuuBN9Whfc
— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 21, 2018
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