All members of Congress will have the opportunity to visit the site of the Parkland school shooting before the building is torn down next month, thanks to a bipartisan effort led by freshman Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL).
In a letter sent to every member in both the House and Senate on Thursday, the Florida Democrat invited lawmakers to attend a tour of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history. Following the tour, members will have the opportunity to speak with families of the victims and survivors for a roundtable discussion on school safety, according to the letter.
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“The tour on August 4th will include the 1200 building at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to see firsthand how a school shooting can affect families and a community,” wrote Moskowitz, who attended Stoneman. “Members will have the opportunity to meet with survivors and parents to discuss the challenges children face at school and to help find ways to mitigate these present dangers.”
On August 4th, I will lead a bipartisan visit inside the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting site before it is torn down.
All of Congress has been invited, so they can witness the aftermath of a school shooting & the horrific impact it’s had on our community in Parkland. https://t.co/bugdvtzief pic.twitter.com/QbzF3BHHs0
— Congressman Jared Moskowitz (@RepMoskowitz) July 27, 2023
Officials have organized several walk-throughs of the high school over the last few weeks before its scheduled demolition later this year. The building has been left mostly untouched since the shooting, with bloodstains still on the floors and the doors and the walls perforated with bullet holes.
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The building had been mostly preserved as evidence in the murder trial of Nikolas Cruz, who pleaded guilty to 17 counts of first-degree murder last October. Prosecutors hoped to use the experience to prove the shooter’s actions were cruel and calculated, building on their arguments by showing jurors surveillance footage of the shooting in which 17 people were killed and another 17 were injured.
Before the building is torn down, a judge ruled earlier this month that the 2018 shooting could be reenacted twice as part of a separate lawsuit against the former sheriff’s deputy, whom families have sued for alleged negligence.
