A die-in in Connecticut | Photo: Flickr/forpeace
12 June marks two years since the Pulse nightclub massacre. A shooter went into the gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida and killed 49 people. The shooter also died at the hands of law enforcement.
The city of Orlando is planning a week’s worth of events memorializing the tragedy.
In Washington, DC, people are planning a much more political event
Activists are remembering what happened with a planned die-in on the National Mall in the nation’s capitol.
Amanda Fugleberg, an Orlando resident, is leading the die-in along with Frank Kravchuk. They only came up with the idea about a week and a half ago.
‘It was the first news I saw when I woke up that day and I remember the death toll just rising,’ Fugleberg recalls.
The die-in will last 12 minutes, or 720 seconds, at noon. The 720 number is meant to represent the approximate number of mass shooting victims since Pulse.
Prior to the die-in, there is a gun reform rally planned for 10:30 am in front of the Capitol building.
June 12, 12 pm. No more #LethalLegislation pic.twitter.com/VyiDBfdnZ6
— National Die-In Day (@NationalDieIn) May 23, 2018
Fugleberg and Kravchuk also reached out to Parkland survivor-turned-activist David Hogg. He recently organized a successful die-in at the grocery chain Publix.
Hogg supports the protest and has re-tweeted both the event and its organizers.
A powerful form of protest
A die-in is a public form of protest in which particpants pretend to be dead. At an organized time and place, they drop to the ground and remain still for however long the protest lasts.
Numerous activists have used the strategory before, including animal rights, anti-war, AIDS, and gun control activists.
On 15 September, 2007, hundreds gathered at the Capitol for a die-in to protest the Iraq War.
It has also been used to protest police brutality against black people. There have been die-ins to protest the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Philando Castile.
H/t: The Advocate
