It’s difficult to believe that five years have already passed since the horrific Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. Fortunately, Jake Tapper, the Chief Washington Correspondent for CNN and anchor of the weekday television news show “The Lead With Jake Tapper”, is once again using his platform to pay tribute to the victims on his Twitter feed—ensuring that their memory will never be forgotten.
Today, Tapper’s feed is filled with photos of the children and adults who were killed in the Sandy Hook shootings, along with retweets of posts shared by the victims’ loved ones. And if that’s not heartbreaking enough, Tapper also includes a short blurb accompanying each photo, talking about the life of the children and their final moments.
Tapper starts off the series of Tweets with an article compiled by the CNN staff remembering the 20 children and six adults killed in the shooting. The tweets that follow, all including the hashtag #SandyHook5yrs, will simply bring tears to your eyes — with thoughtful insights into who the people (some of them so very young) killed in the shooting really were.
Sandy Hook shooting victims remembered @CNN https://t.co/HvgaVBPaV9
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) December 14, 2017
In one tweet, Tapper remembers Jesse Lewis, who was learning how to ride a horse.
Jesse Lewis, 6, was learning how to ride a horse. #SandyHook5yrs pic.twitter.com/Jx0m8rs59u
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) December 14, 2017
In another tweet, Tapper includes a quote from the parents of Jessica Rekos, who say she was “a beautiful 6-year-old girl who made us laugh every single day.”
Jessica Rekos was “a beautiful 6-year-old girl who made us laugh every single day,” her parents say. #SandyHook5yrs pic.twitter.com/Kunq3C2A7q
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) December 14, 2017
Tapper also takes a moment to remember the teachers and staff who were killed in their attempts to save the children. One photo features Principal Dawn Hochsprung, who was killed while trying to stop the shooter.
Principal Dawn Hochsprung was killed trying to stop the shooter. #SandyHook5yrs https://t.co/kjU80OQgAc pic.twitter.com/kgTj6O8MDj
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) December 14, 2017
If you haven’t already grabbed for some tissues, you’ll certainly need them while looking at the rest of Tapper’s Twitter feed. December 14, 2012 was certainly a day that brought grief to the nation, and I commend Jake Tapper for using his platform and dedicating an entire day to pay tribute to the victims of Sandy Hook.