Montreal 11-year-old plans march in support of Florida school shooting survivors

A Westmount elementary school student is planning a march to show support to survivors of the Florida high school shooting.

“The plan is to raise awareness and love for all the people who have been affected by the shooting,” said Lexi Vickery, a Grade 6 student at Roslyn Elementary.

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Vickery saw the shooting on the news, and wanted to do something to make the people affected feel better. She wrote a letter to her principal saying she wanted to organize a march to show shooting victims and those close to them that people care.

“I’m very proud of her actually,” said Roslyn principal Nick Katalifos. “She’s a terrific student and a wonderful young lady.”

There will be marches in cities across the U.S. and Canada on the same day with the goal of promoting gun control, but Lexi says her march is more about showing support.

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“I’m doing it for the families and for raising awareness so they can see that other countries care about about the shooting too,” the 11-year-old told Global News.

Lexi’s mother says her daughter was particularly motivated by high school students in Florida who spoke out for gun control after the shooting, and the backlash they faced.

“Older people who said ‘Well, you’re just kids,’ seemed to galvanize her,” said Amy Creighton, Lexi’s mom.

“A lot of people were saying: ‘Oh no, you can’t do that. You’re too young.’ And they did do that. So I thought to myself maybe I can do that,” Lexi said.

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The young march organizer has already faced some backlash of her own.

“We did get a gun person who’s angry at us,” she said.

“I think people should have better things to do with their time than to write nasty notes about an 11-year-old who is organizing something of benefit,” said Creighton.

Lexi is moving forward with the support of her school, friends and family. The march takes place on March 24, starting at the corner of Sherbrooke Street and Claremont Avenue.

“We already have a lot of volunteers, a lot of support. The City of Westmount is on board, Dawson College is on board, and Westmount High,” said Creighton.

Lexi hopes the message of love will be heard loud and clear.