Former NRA President David Keene and one of the NRA's former "researchers" John Lott prepared and delivered graduation speeches at the June 4, 2021 graduation ceremony of James Madison High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. They didn't actually speak to the graduating class. The speeches were delivered to 3,044 empty chairs, each of which represented a member of the class of 2021 across the country who was not able to participate in their high school graduation because they were victims of gun violence.
The NRA speakers didn't know what the chairs represented when they wrote and delivered their speeches at what they were told was a rehearsal and sound-check preparation for the graduation. Of course, there's no way that, on behalf of the NRA, they would make an appearance at an event honoring victims of gun violence, especially one as symbolic and as dramatic as this one was. Their remarks, in fact, were quite a contrast to the solemn message of the empty graduation ceremony which memorialized 3,044 tragic losses of young life representing a small fraction of those whose lives have been lost because of gun violence.
They inadvertently made the point intended by those who organized the event.
There is no James Madison High School in Las Vegas. There is an online JMHS, based in Georgia, and several high schools bearing Madison's name in several locations. But not in Las Vegas. These guys were so bend on promoting their agenda that they didn't bother to check out the "school" or verify the facts of the matter before taking to the podium and making their speech. They got very upset when they found out what had happened. Well, that was their mistake and their own fault.
An organization called Change the Ref, founded by the parents of Marjorie Stoneman Douglas student Joaquin Oliver, who was killed in the 2018 assault on his high school, organized the "graduation" ceremony, invited the speakers and actually got them to deliver their speeches to the empty chairs as a "rehearsal" for the ceremony. Keene told the empty chairs to fight restrictive gun laws. Lott spoke about background checks. Ironically, if he'd done a background check, he would have discovered that there was no "James Madison High School" in Las Vegas. He certainly proved the point that those advocating for responsible gun ownership have been making for years. Background checks work, if you bother with them.
It is also ironic that after discovering they'd been tricked into giving the speeches, Lott had the audacity to whine about how Change the Ref had "chopped up the video" and "creatively edited" what people say, which he claimed was a lie. Actually, they didn't do that at all. They simply contrasted his words with recordings of students in school settings where an active shooter was taking lives, one by one. I'm sure that was disconcerting. Lott himself is guilty of "creative editing" the words of those who don't share his perspective on gun regulation, as is the NRA to which he belongs. That makes it hard to complain about this event, doesn't it?
Change the Ref is obviously very serious about addressing the issue of gun violence and using whatever influence they have at their disposal, including the emotional devastation and suffering of those left behind when their loved one dies. Breitbart, Newsmax, Fox the NRA, the Trump Campaign and the whole scope of right wing extremism use misleading statements and outright lies to advance their phony, fake news for the sake of their agenda. This event was pretty straight up. It takes a measure of boldness to fight against fake news and lies. Change the Ref turned the tables on the NRA and the squawking says that they got their attention.
It's definitely worth watching.
Former NRA President Speaks to 3,044 Chairs Representing Students Killed by Gun Violence
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