Pleasant Students Stage Walkout: Report

PLEASANTON, CA — Hundreds of students at Thomas Hart Middle School walked out of their third period classes Tuesday to honor the victims of the elementary school mass shooting in Texas, KRON4 News reported.

An eighth grader, Ayana Hasan, organized the rally saying she was horrified by what happened and didn’t think many of her classmates really understood, the report said.

“When I realized that the 19 people killed were all elementary schoolers (two teachers were also killed) and a couple of years ago that could have been me…it could still be me because the world isn’t a safe place with guns,” she told KRON4 News.

The student took a stand, KRON reported, and encouraged others to write to local politicians.

The Pleasanton Unified School District increased police patrols at its schools following the Texas shooting. Superintendent David Haglund sent a message of support to the school community and resources for families and parents.

This wasn't the first time students in Pleasanton rallied over gun violence. In 2018, students from local schools raised money for victims of a deadly high school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Students at that time also planned walkouts including one on the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting that left 15 dead and 24 injured.

See the full report from KRON4 News here.