Saturday, March 3, 2018

I'm a teacher at Stoneman Douglas High School

Sign the petition telling the White House that it must show there are consequences for driving vicious personal attacks on student victims of gun violence and peddling conspiracy theories.

Dear MoveOn member,

I'm Jim Gard, a math teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. I started a petition because I'm shocked that the White House has issued press credentials for a right-wing conspiracy theory blog that is spreading lies about students at my school.

It is outrageous enough that outlets such as Gateway Pundit are spreading lies and driving attacks on students like saying one of them was coached into using anti-Trump talking points when expressing his grief about the school shooting. But it is even more outrageous that an outlet that peddles lies and conspiracy theories holds a White House press credential and the authority that carries.1

Sign my petition if you agree Donald Trump and this administration must make it clear that these attacks are unacceptable by pulling this blog's credentials and permanently banning the site and its publishers from the White House.

The White House must show that there are consequences for driving vicious personal attacks on student victims of gun violence and peddling conspiracy theories. It must pull Gateway Pundit's press credentials, permanently ban them from official events, and commit to not giving credentials to any outlet that engages in these types of conspiracy theories or attacks on vulnerable students and victims.

In the aftermath of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County, Florida, students who survived the attack have bravely stood up to demand action for safe schools and safe communities. I know these students.

But now, right-wing blogs are pushing wild conspiracy theories about the students who survived, claiming they are plants, actors, or being manipulated by politicians.2

By giving Gateway Pundit press credentials, the White House is validating the site and these attacks.

I have worked with these students. These courageous young people survived a horror beyond what any person should have to face, and now they stand with moral courage and strength to call us all to action.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

–Jim Gard of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and the American Federation of Teachers

Sources:

1. "Gateway Pundit's White House correspondent accuses mass shooting survivors of 'milking the deaths of their peers,'" Media Matters for America, February 20, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/34663?t=17&akid=200414%2E10220574%2E8buN5m

2. "What is Gateway Pundit, the conspiracy-hawking site at the center of the bogus Florida 'crisis actors' hype?" The Washington Post, February 23, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/34664?t=19&akid=200414%2E10220574%2E8buN5m

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