Nearly six years later, the crime scene at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is still intact.
The 1200 building has been untouched because it was needed as evidence in the trial of the shooter who murdered 17 people on Valentine’s Day, 2018.
“When I say it’s a time capsule, it’s hard to describe what that even means, the building is literally the exact same condition it was at the very day of the shooting,” said U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, (D) Parkland.
So when Members of Congress go inside, they see the broken glass and the bullet holes, they see the dried blood, and they get a visceral sense of the terror.
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“I’m engulfed with emotion and horror but just really incredibly determined to double down on the steps that we need to take which we know, incrementally, have to be done,” said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, (D) Weston.
The bipartisan tour was the second one organized by Moskowitz, each with a closed-door discussion session afterward.
“People just need to go through the building, I don’t need them to talk politics with me as they go through the building and listen to the parents, I just want them to go through the building, if they come out and say their position’s not changed, I think they’re wrong, but that’s fine, the building speaks for itself,” Moskowitz said.
“The highest responsibility any of us have, not just as elected officials but as human beings, is to take care of our kids, and our kids are not safe right now,” said U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, (R) Pennsylvania, a former FBI agent.
Fred Guttenberg took part in the discussion group. He lost his daughter, Jaime, and has become nationally known for his gun safety activism.
“I sure do hope every member of Congress who’s been through one of these visits goes back a very changed person and does not relent in educating other members who are there,” Guttenberg said.
The tour was led by two dads who also lost their kids in the rampage and who have also become familiar faces because of their advocacy for school safety and gun safety measures, Max Schachter and Tony Montalto.
“I’m extremely optimistic, hopefully, we’ll get to have more members of Congress come through this building because everyone that does will be changed forever and will be part of this new school safety coalition that we’re building,” said Schachter, whose son, Alex, was killed.
Schachter founded the Safe Schools for Alex organization.
“We must remember to all come together and all look for solutions, stop vilifying the other side, bring them all under the tent, bring them in to be part of the discussion,” Montalto said.
He lost his daughter, Gina, and went on to form the advocacy group, Stand With Parkland.
They need both sides of the aisle to pass legislation such as last year’s bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first gun safety law passed in more than three decades.
“And the whole idea is, and I say this as a former emergency management director, this is about mitigation, every little thing we do can save a life,” Moskowitz said.
