TW: Mentions of gun violence
On March 23rd, 2023, March For Our Lives hosted a rally at the Michigan State Capitol building. Students, community members, activists, parents, and elected officials rallied in support of gun control measures. We heard from many students and activists during the rally including Troy Forbush, who was one of the five injured survivors of the mass shooting that occurred at Michigan State University on February 13th, 2023.
Forbush, a Vocal Performance and Music Education major, gave an emotional speech about their experience as one of the students who was injured during the mass shooting on February 13th. For the first time, the public heard the story of his horrific encounter with the shooter.
“As he panned the room with his handgun, I pleaded for my life and screamed, ‘Please, don’t shoot me!’… We were met face-to-face with pure evil. Seconds after being shot clean through the lung, two entrance wounds and two exit wounds… Laying in a state of shock that will never leave my mind and forever haunt me,” Forbush said. Forbush also believes that he may not have survived if it weren’t for his peer in the classroom, stating “I will never forget looking into the eyes of a peer, who had taken off his shirt to assist me in applying pressure to my fresh gunshot wound. He asked me my name to keep me alert and stayed near, asking if anyone had a belt to spare. I will never forget him grabbing my hands.” After sharing his powerful story, Forbush called upon lawmakers to enact immediate gun-safety legislation.
While counter-protesters tried to veer the attention away from the victims and activists who spoke at the rally, the crowd drowned out their remarks. There were moments during Forbush’s speech in which a counter-protesters tried to drown him out, but a voice from the crowd shouted, “We hear you, Troy!” The support from the attendees was overwhelmingly positive, making the rally a huge success.
When speaking with members of Michigan State’s March For Our Lives chapter about their involvement in not only this rally but many other events honoring the victims lost, Zana Mcentire, an active member of MSU’s MFOL chapter, said, “The experience of working together… was really eye opening… there is nothing better than working with diverse mindsets and personalities. Despite this event being emotionally challenging… I felt a deep connection with everyone who united for our cause.
When I asked Mcentire what helped her turn her grief into action, she said it was the victims and their stories that helped her, stating, “I want to honor the Spartans we lost… to keep the memory of Brian, Alex, and Arielle alive.” Co-President and rally speaker Joseph Kesto believes that “The more we push legislation to invoke change, the more change we will receive… it’s sad to see that the school shooting here at Michigan State University is what caused change to occur in Michigan.” Kesto said he joined MFOL “to channel my anger into change and power… I do not want my emotions to get the best of me so I continue to move forward… tragedies like the one that happened to our community on February 13th should never happen again.”
Amongst Kesto and Mcentire, hundreds of activists and pro-gun control constituents have been rallying in Lansing since the tragedy first hit. The pressure has been on lawmakers to make new gun legislation ever since the devastating mass shooting at Oxford High School in 2021, but, as Mcentire mentioned, legislation wasn’t even introduced to the floor until after the shooting at MSU. The Michigan House and Senate have passed gun safety packages, but are sorting out some differences before the final draft will reach the Governor’s desk. Activists say they will never stop fighting until gun safety measures are in place. As rally speaker and MFOL Press Associate Mikah Rector-Brooks says, “This is not the ceiling, this is the floor!”