Emma Gonzalez's 6 minutes, 20 seconds of silence was a powerful reminder … of deputy's failure

Parkland school shooting survivor Emmz Gonzalez is one of the selected stars of the #NeverAgain movement, and of course, she held a keynote position at Saturday’s #MarchForOurLives in Washington, D.C.

For what it’s worth, her position on gun control is pretty clear: “just remove the guns that cause the most carnage” — it’s so simple.

In what many will call one of the most powerful moments of D.C. march, Gonzalez stood quietly on stage for 6 minutes and 20 seconds, the time it took for the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting to unfold.

Emma Gonzalez stands quietly on stage for 6 minutes and 20 seconds, the time it took for the Parkland shooting to unfold. https://t.co/AuxyZcLnZl pic.twitter.com/DzPPXXtLfR

— Splinter (@splinter_news) March 24, 2018

'Welcome to the revolution': Parkland students lead the way during an emotional March for Our Lives rally https://t.co/fsHAu5YJdC

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) March 24, 2018

The @Emma4Change silence — though just 6 minutes 20 seconds long — as long as the Parkland shooter took to slaughter 17 — was the longest, loudest silence I can recall hearing in a major public address. Eloquent beyond words. The tears keep flowing. The joy of hope endures.

— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) March 24, 2018

#EmmaGonzalez is waiting in real time the entire 6:20 in silence
that it took to take the lives of her 17 classmates.

It was an eternity.

The power of silence.

— Rex Doctor (@RexDoctor) March 24, 2018

An emotional Emma González (@Emma4Change) concluded the #MarchForOurLives by standing in silence for 6 minutes and 20 seconds, the amount of time it took a gunman to kill 17 of her classmates at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. https://t.co/ZmVma1l4WI

— Twitter Moments (@TwitterMoments) March 24, 2018

You can look at that two ways, of course … the first being the ease of reloading an AR-15, particularly when no one in a gun-free zone is stopping you (hey — they’ve proposed banning everything but revolvers and bolt-action rifles). And that brings us to our second point: wasn’t there an armed school resource officer on duty at the school when the shooting broke out?

You know what would have been nice to have heard during that 6-minute, 20-second time period? The school resource officer entering the building and engaging the shooter … then the moment of silence might have been a lot shorter.

One more time: There was an armed deputy stationed AT THE SCHOOL when the shooting started.

https://twitter.com/BoraxCross/status/977622609125720064

https://twitter.com/jrsalzman/status/977655093284630529

Will anyone ever hold the Broward County Sheriff responsible for his part in what happened that day? Any new CNN town halls coming up where the sheriff could re-tell his story?

The strength it takes to be silent for the 6mins and 20secs that it took to kill the 17 people at #Parkland and wound the others. #EmmaGonzalez #MarchForOurLives

— Victoria Brownworth ?️‍? (@VABVOX) March 24, 2018

Meanwhile Broward County Deputy Scot Peterson was standing outside for those 6 minutes 20 seconds that he potentially could have stopped the shooter and saved those 17 lives like Great Mills High School resource officer Blaine Gaskill did.https://t.co/j5qZDAGJ8a

— Sarah C (@ConstitutionLo1) March 24, 2018

6 minutes where the School Resource Officer did nothing.

— L Gambino Fessler (@LGambino1) March 24, 2018

#EmmaGonzalez stood silent for 6 minutes and 20 seconds. So did the student resource officer and the @browardsheriff. Allegedly.

— Dave in So Cal (@padboltz) March 24, 2018

Imagine how quickly this could have been over if the deputy assigned to the school had engaged the shooter, but no. Dare we even suggest it might have been over sooner if a teacher or administrator with a concealed carry permit had been allowed to carry that day?

But by all means, target the NRA.

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