A bipartisan congressional delegation is scheduled to visit the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School crime scene Friday morning, to see the time capsule of horror first-hand.
Led by Democrat Jared Moskowitz of Parkland and Republican Mario Diaz-Balart of Miami, nine Members of Congress will experience what the family members of the victims saw when they went inside the 1200 building last month. Max Schachter was among those who confronted their nightmares, he saw his son Alex’s blood on the floor, and he came out with this thought:
“Every legislator, every member of Congress should understand what happens when you don’t prioritize school safety,” Schachter said that day.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
Now he’s getting his wish. Schachter will accompany the congressional delegation on the visit, driven by determination.
“It’s Alex, it’s anger, my grief that pushes me forward every day, I shouldn’t have to be going through this, none of Parkland should’ve been going through this, but that’s what I hope the members of Congress will understand that if you don’t prioritize this issue, this is what happens, if you don’t prioritize safety before education, you get dead kids,” Schachter said Thursday.
Tony Montalto agrees with Schachter on the need for lawmakers to see the aftermath of a mass shooting.
“To have them see what occurred here in Parkland, to have them see what failed,” said Montalto.
He’s also been inside the 1200 building, to see where his daughter, Gina, took her last breaths. Montalto, Schachter and other Parkland victims have been lobbying Congress for school safety measures, and Montalto will also join the Members of Congress Friday morning on their tour.
“The more people we have trying to solve the issues, the more things we will put in place to protect our students and teachers, there’s no one thing that’ll make the change, it’s changing this and that and that, it’s working together across the aisle to find the answers that neither side has on their own,” Montalto said.
“I don’t think this has ever happened before where you’ve got a Congressional delegation walking through the site of a horrible mass shooting before it’s been sanitized and cleaned, I want them to understand the failures that led up to Parkland, I want them to understand the failures of that day,” Schachter said.
He and Montalto say school safety is not a partisan issue, and there are many areas they say both sides can agree on, including more mental health services, better threat assessments, and panic button apps for teachers.
