HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. – Gun rights advocates posted support on social media Thursday for students who walked out of a gun-control rally in anger and tears over concerns the event inappropriately politicized their grief. The event Wednesday was primarily billed as a vigil to honor Kendrick Castillo, who was fatally shot in a rampage by two students at the STEM school here. Speakers at the school's packed gymnasium, however, were mostly politicians and advocates pressing Congress for more restrictive gun laws. After about 30 minutes, hundreds of students from the STEM School stormed out yelling "this is not for us," "political stunt" and "we are people, not a statement." Candace Craig, who has three kids attending STEM, said it was just too early for to push for action. She said the trauma is still fresh for the thousands of parents and their kids who suffered through the shooting and the anxious hours that followed. "We need quiet. We need familiar faces. We need to hold our babies. We will heal and we will rise stronger and ready to say 'enough,'" she said Thursday. "But right now, we are shaken. We are broken. We hurt for the families whose worlds were turned upside down with grief and loss. That’s what we want the world to hear from us." Wednesday night, the traumatized shooting survivors who exited the rally thrust lighted cellphones into the air and chanted "mental health, mental health," as their hands and voices shook in the cold rain. Angry students pushed and screamed at journalists, demanding to see photos they had taken. Interview requests made by a USA TODAY reporter were rebuffed; multiple students said they had agreed not to talk to journalists. Many students appeared unaware the event was organized by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Jason Crow, both Democrats, both spoke at length about the need for federal action. The Brady Campaign invited reporters to cover the event. Colorado school shooting:Students and guard lauded for heroism Heroes:11 days. 3 mass shootings. 3 heroes. Risking lives for others The students drew plenty of support on social media. "These politicians remind me of ambulance chasers," posted a Utah woman. "Ready to pounce on the next big shooting with their gun control agenda." A Colorado woman posted: "Love this so much! I’m so proud of these students! After some rough political months here in Colorado this was a welcomed sight & hope for our future!" In an apology issued afterward, the Brady Campaign said all efforts should be focused on supporting the STEM students, families and faculty members. "We are deeply sorry any part of this vigil did not provide the support, caring and sense of community we sought to foster and facilitate and which we know is so crucial to communities who suffer the trauma of gun violence," the statement said. Some STEM students and family members held a private vigil earlier in the day. They said the public and journalists were kept out to permit anguished students and their parents a chance to grieve together away from the media spotlight into which they have unwillingly been thrust. Castillo, 18, was killed and eight students were wounded Tuesday when two teens opened fire in classrooms at the K-12 school specializing in science and math. Castillo, three days away from completing high school, and two classmates charged one of the shooters at his school. The avid hunter and fisherman was killed. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed "red flag" legislation last month providing judges with the power to temporarily remove firearms from people believed to be at high risk of harming themselves or others.<doc-sep>Students in Colorado stormed out of a vigil Wednesday night for the victims of this week’s school shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch after two Democratic politicians took the stage and called for gun control, according to local news reports. The two Democrats who spoke at the vigil were Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, who is running for president, and Rep. Jason Crow, whose congressional district includes STEM. COLORADO SCHOOL SHOOTING LEAVES AT LEAST 1 DEAD, 8 INJURED “STEM School students walked out of a vigil tonight after @RepJasonCrow & @SenatorBennet spoke,” tweeted Kyle Clark, an anchor with 9NEWS in Denver. “Students said their grief was being politicized. They later returned, took the mic, and some said they didn't want to be used to promote gun control.” About 2,000 people packed a high school gym Wednesday night to remember 18-year-old Kendrick Castillo, who was shot and killed trying to tackle one of the shooters at STEM School Highlands Ranch on Tuesday. Authorities have credited Castillo and two classmates with stopping the attack. Eight others were injured in the shooting. According to the Denver Post, some of the students who walked out of the vigil on Wednesday night were chanting “mental health.” The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which helped to organize the vigil, later released a statement apologizing to the offended students. “We are deeply sorry any part of this vigil did not provide the support, caring and sense of community we sought to foster and facilitate and which we know is so crucial to communities who suffer the trauma of gun violence,” the group said. The Associated Press contributed to this report.<doc-sep>A vigil held Wednesday evening to recognize the victims and heroes of the shooting earlier this week at a Colorado high school turned into a political protest after some students in attendance expressed frustration with the tone and focus of the speeches. According to local news reports, a group of students walked out of the event, organized by a local chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, after hearing speeches from members of the community, including activists and elected officials like Senator Michael Bennet, a Democratic presidential candidate, and Rep. Jason Crow, who represents the district where Tuesday's shooting took place. Both Bennet and Crow were invited by the Brady Campaign to speak at the event, which took place at a nearby high school, and also attended another vigil Wednesday night at a nearby church. Speakers at the event, which honored Kendrick Castillo, the 18-year-old who was killed protecting his fellow classmates at the STEM School in Highlands Ranch, also talked about the need to take action in the wake of another tragic school shooting and reform the nation's gun laws. "I know our kids already have enough to do, they have a job to do when they come to school, you have a job to do when you come to school," Bennet, the former Superintendent of the Denver Public Schools, said before praising Castillo's bravery. "Their job is not to fix America's broken gun laws. Their job is not, as Kendrick so selflessly did yesterday, to give up their own life to save their classmates lives. Or the teachers' lives. That's not their job." "You sent me to Washington to speak the truth. So here it is – we are failing. We are failing when this happens over and over and over and over again and nothing happens," Crow, a gun owner and former Army Ranger elected to Congress last year, said. "You already have my thoughts and prayers, but you deserve and should demand more. Because to only send thoughts and prayers when you're a member of Congress or when you're in a position to take action and to affect change, it is empty, it is hollow, and you and your children deserve more." On Thursday, Crow spoke with ABC News' Senior Washington Reporter Devin Dwyer about the protest, saying he supported the students' demand that they be given a chance to speak. "It was a very emotional night, which I completely understand, these are students that had just gone through a horrific tragedy...And it became apparent halfway through the event that they weren’t being given an opportunity to speak," Crow said. "So they stood up, as they should have, and demanded an opportunity to speak, and I supported that. I stayed late until every student was heard and had their opportunity to tell us how they felt about this issue and just express that emotion. So it was really important that we keep the focus on the students," he added. The tenor of the vigil seemed to shift after some in the audience began to express frustration that the event was not solely focused on remembering the heroes and victims of the shooting. "This can be an incredibly divisible or painful or awful time, or it can be a time when we come together," another speaker at the event told the packed gymnasium. After a number of speeches, one student in the audience shouted "Let STEM kids speak!" and video from the event from ABC News affiliate KMGH showed students chanting "Mental Health," as they left the event and gathered in the parking lot outside the gym. Students later re-entered the event and vented their frustration at the media and politicians. “What happened at STEM is awful, but it’s not a statistic. We can’t be used for a reason for gun control. We are people, not a statement,” one student said after the event. The Brady Campaign issued an apology Thursday afternoon, saying that all efforts should be focused on providing support to the students, faculty, and families affected by the tragic shooting. "We are here to lift up the voices of victims and survivors...We are deeply sorry any part of this vigil did not provide the support, caring and sense of community we sought to foster and facilitate and which we know is so crucial to communities who suffer the trauma of gun violence," the statement said. In the days after the shooting, Castillo, who was killed three days before graduation, has been remembered for his kindness and bravery. John Castillo, Kendrick Castillo's father, called his son's death "devastating, as you can imagine." "When I see the people that he saved, it made me happy," John Castillo said. "I knew my son wouldn’t have it any other way. But as any parent would tell you, 'It's a heck of a trade-off.'" ABC News' Devin Dwyer contributed to this report.<doc-sep>"This was not a vigil. This was a political stunt." David Zalubowski / AP Students leave during the community vigil May 8. Survivors of the shooting at the charter school in Colorado that killed one student and injured eight others stormed out of a community vigil Wednesday, calling it a "political stunt." The event, organized by Team Enough — the student-led initiative of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence — was intended to be an interfaith vigil to honor the STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting survivors and 18-year-old Kendrick Castillo, who died Tuesday after trying to stop one of the shooters. Hundreds of grieving students, parents, and community members packed the Highlands Ranch school's gym, but their anger and frustration became apparent after none of the STEM students themselves had a chance to speak about Castillo at the vigil. Instead, several speakers — including Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Michael Bennet, Democratic Rep. Jason Crow, and a Moms Demand Action volunteer, Laura Reeves — addressed the need for gun control legislation. "[Our kids] have a job to do when they come to school," Bennet told the crowd. "Their job is not to fix American’s broken gun laws. Their job is not, as Kendrick so selflessly did yesterday, give up their own life to save their classmates' lives or their teachers' lives. That's not their job. They’re relying on the rest of us to do our job so they can do their job." Via Facebook: KMPHFOX26 Sen. Michael Bennet at the vigil. "Let STEM kids speak," an attendee shouted during the vigil as some students began walking out in protest. However, an organizer of the event told the crowd that they hadn't been able to connect with any STEM students to have them speak at the vigil. "You never asked," some students said in response, prompting an exodus of students and parents, according to an eyewitness who attended the vigil but wished to remain anonymous. David Zalubowski / AP Students and others gather in the high school hallway after walking out of the vigil. One organizer blamed the media for sending attendees outside, but students later said that was false and that they had chosen to leave themselves. The protesting students then gathered in the high school hallway, chanting, "Mental health," "STEM strong," and "Fuck the media," the eyewitness told BuzzFeed News on Thursday. Students from the #STEMshooting in Colorado stormed out of a rally organized by gun-control advocates Wednesday night after growing angry about the politicization of their trauma. "Everyone was upset there was no time to honor Kendrick," one eyewitness said, adding that students and parents appeared to be frustrated at the news media for taking photos of people crying. "It's just about votes and something that doesn't have anything to do with anything," a school parent, Chris Barrette, told KRDO-TV. "It's about the victims, our faculty, and the first responders, the horror that our students went through just yesterday." Several students who walked out of the gym also gathered outside the high school and held their own impromptu vigil in the rain, pointing their illuminated cellphones toward the sky. STEM students leave vigil, hold their own outside Highlands Ranch HS. Many students then returned to the gym and held a moment of silence for Castillo and the shooting survivors. Several of them took the microphone to express their frustrations with the organized event and to speak about Castillo. "This was not a vigil," one student said in his speech. "This was purely a political stunt. This is not what we wanted for Kendrick. We didn’t want Kendrick to be a prop. We wanted Kendrick to be mourned. We wanted all of you to join us in that mourning, but that was not allowed here. We all walked out. We were not kicked out, despite what you have heard. And we're back now to tell you that we love Kendrick and we love all of the survivors." Via krdo.com A STEM student gives a speech at an impromptu vigil for Kendrick Castillo. One of Castillo's classmates broke down as she remembered her friend. "I came here for my close friend Kendrick," she said. "I just wanted to talk about him a little bit because everybody's been sitting here talking about gun violence and avoiding the fact that he died." In a statement following the vigil, the Brady group apologized, saying that organizers are "deeply sorry any part of this vigil did not provide the support, caring and sense of community we sought to foster and facilitate and which we know is so crucial to communities who suffer the trauma of gun violence." A spokesperson for Bennet said in a statement that the vigil "should have been about Kendrick Castillo and the STEM School students." "They are our focus and the event should have been set up to ensure their voices were fully heard," the statement added. A representative for Crow did not return a request for comment. Stephanie Baer contributed reporting to this story.<doc-sep>
Students at the STEM School Highlands Ranch in Colorado stormed out of a vigil honoring their slain classmate on Wednesday evening in anger over what they saw as a “political stunt” using their tragedy to push for gun control. “We are people, not a statement,” the students shouted as they marched out of the gymnasium at the nearby Highlands Ranch High School. Hundreds of students, teachers, and activists had attended the vigil, which was billed as honoring Kendrick Castillo, a teenager fatally shot when he tried to tackle one of the shooters in a spree on Tuesday that left eight others injured at a charter school in a Denver suburb. Two students, 18 and 16, have been arrested. The event was organized by a gun control group called the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. According to USA Today, many students appeared to have been unaware that the event was organized by an advocacy group. A half-hour in, after Sen. Michael F. Bennett and Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado spoke about gun regulations, the students became furious at what they saw as the politicization of their trauma. “I thought this was about us, not about politics,” one student said, according to the Washington Post. Another student argued that they were “not a statistic” and shouldn’t be cited to justify gun control: “We are people, not a statement.” The students held their phones’ flashlights into the air and chanted, “mental health, mental health.” They also confronted journalists, whom the Brady Center had invited to cover the event, calling them derogatory names, according to the Denver Post, and asking to see what photos they had taken. The Brady Center apologized for the vigil later on Wednesday. “We are here to lift up the voices of victims and survivors,” the statement said. “We are deeply sorry any part of this vigil did not provide the support, caring and sense of community we sought to foster and facilitate.” According to the Washington Post, some students returned to the gymnasium later to finish the event. “We wanted Kendrick to be mourned,” one student who addressed the crowd said. “We wanted all of you to join us in that mourning. But that was not allowed here.”