Philadelphia to participate in March for Our Lives event Saturday

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The "March for Our Lives" event, sparked by the deadly school shooting in Florida last month, is happening Saturday.

Students and educators will bring their fight for gun reform to Washington, D.C.

Similar events are happening in cities across the nation, including Philadelphia.

A march will begin at 9 a.m. at 5th and Market. It will go east along Market to Front, south to Dock, then east on Dock to Columbus Boulevard.

There, several blocks will be shut down for a rally.

Drivers can expect road closures to begin around 6 a.m. Saturday.

Among those marching and speaking is Benjamin Aitoumeziane. He hopes the march will be a wakeup call because, he worries, school shootings have become almost commonplace.

"The shock value of Columbine is no longer there. To many Americans it has become part of the news cycle," he said. "I don't want that to be part of my life, I don't want it to be my kid's life."

The Marjory Stoneman Douglas killings in Parkland, Florida, sparked school walkouts and the March for Our Lives movement.

Aitoumeziane, a Temple student, has a list of changes he wants to see from Washington.

"I want to see universal background checks. You see different states have a lot of different measures. The federal Congress has taken no measures to protect the youth," he said. "Where is the investment there? I think universal background checks is a first step."

Other speakers at the event include Mayor Jim Kenney, Sen. Bob Casey and a Columbine shooting survivor.

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