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Survivors of deadly school shooting lash out at Trump

Published:Sunday | February 18, 2018 | 12:00 AM
AP
The hearse carrying the remains of Alex Schachter, 14, who was one of the 17 victims of the Parkland mass shooting, leaves the funeral at the Fort Lauderdale Marriott Coral Springs at Heron Bay in Parkland, Florida, yesterday.

PARKLAND, Florida (AP):

Students who escaped the deadly school shooting in Florida focused their anger yesterday at United States President Donald Trump, contending that his response to the attack has been needlessly divisive.

"You're the president. You're supposed to bring this nation together, not divide us," said David Hogg, a 17-year-old student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida, speaking on NBC's Meet the Press.

"How dare you," he added.

Hogg was responding to Trump's tweet Saturday that Democrats hadn't passed any gun control measures during the brief time they controlled Congress with a supermajority in the Senate. Trump also alluded to the FBI's failure to act on tips that the suspect was dangerous while bemoaning the bureau's focus on Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Trump was at his Florida estate yesterday, but did not mention the attack in a series of morning tweets.

Florida politicians, meanwhile, scrambled to produce legislation in response to Wednesday's attack that killed 17 people.

In a TV interview, Republican Senator Marco Rubio embraced a Democratic bill in the Florida legislature to allow courts to temporarily prevent people from having guns if they are determined to be a threat to themselves or others.

Governor Rick Scott, also a Republican, attended a prayer vigil near the school and is expected to announce a legislative package with GOP leaders of the legislature this week.