Our prayers go out, but something must be done
Published 4:32 pm Friday, February 16, 2018
No amount of “we are praying for you” seems enough. There are no adequate words to describe how truly devastating the mass murder of 17 students and faculty members at Majory Stoneman Douglas High School was.
Wednesday afternoon, Nikolas Cruz opened fire inside the high school after being expelled for disciplinary reasons. It is reported that Cruz had an “affinity for violence” and often brought knives to campus. According to officers, his social media was extremely concerning and often depicted people holding several guns, including rifles and ammunition.
I feel for every single student and faculty member in that building. My sophomore year of college, students began receiving anonymous threats from a fictional “Arthur Pendragon”. He said there would soon be day of retribution and we would know what it felt like to have a TAR-21 passing right through our flesh. He said he had seen minorities suffer at the hands of those superior, and after the day of retribution we would appreciate all minorities.
Pendragon was specifically targeting Greek organizations. We were all asked to remove our sorority letters from our car and not wear any shirt affiliated with our organization for our own protection.
It was terrifying. I’ve never felt so helpless. I had no control over what this person, who was hiding behind a screen would do. Luckily, I never had to find out. UAPD found the guy posting these threats and he was arrested and charged. I only wish the same could’ve happened for Majory Stoneman Douglas.
Those students were just about to enter the next phase of their lives. I don’t know what the answer is or how to fix this mass shooting epidemic. What I do know is that these people are sick. We can’t keep ignoring radical posts or pictures. We have to turn them over, we have to let a higher power take control of the situation.
It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes a village to keep them safe. We have to stick together and report anyone who seems suspicious or seems to not want the best for us.
With that being said, we are thinking of you Majory Stoneman Douglas and we are praying for everyone affected by this terrible and inhumane act. We promise to learn from this and work to protect our youth. We will no longer ignore the warning sings. We will show a united front and not continue to let this happen.