We have just passed the one year-anniversary of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. In that year we have watched the amoebic nature the story has taken, from activist students becoming a national mouthpiece to the eventual realization that local officials have become a culpable cabal of enablers.
One of the voices who fought to be heard through the hectoring has been MSDHS student Kyle Kashuv. This is largely due to Kashuv taking the stand on behalf of gun rights, and looking at the entities that were overseeing our schools and permitted this tragedy to unfold. Taking a stand for guns and calling for accountability did not engender Kashuv to the media as it did so many other Parkland students who took the opposite view.
That does not mean he hasn't been impactful. Kashuv has developed into a stern and sober voice, and has earned an audience in the Oval Office, as well as helping get action on a local level. At the 2019 CPAC conference Kashuv sat in on the panel "Disarming the Left’s Hypocrisy: The Fatal Disadvantage of 'Gun Control'."
On the panel as well was Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., and what was notable was Kashuv’s support not of guns specifically, but the issues that permitted the violence to take place. His first remarks on the panel understandably began about the shooting at MSD. “What happened at my school wasn’t a gun issue. What happened at my school was that there were 46 reports to the BSO -- the Broward Sheriff’s office. There were two tips to the FBI. The school knew this kid was going to do this -- and everyone dropped the ball.”
This reflects what Kyle said to me as we talked that afternoon following his panel. While former classmates have their sole focus seemingly on limiting our access to guns, Kashuv has his attention trained instead on change at the local level. When I asked him what it was like to work with the new governor, Ron DeSantis, the past month, he shook his head in awe. “It was so great, and so needed -- the way he has just taken control is amazing.”
I brought up the recent decision by the governor to take moves regarding the Broward County School Board. “That grand jury is going to be huge! That is such a big deal.” I asked Kyle if it was a disappointment at all that Gov. DeSantis was not able to take direct action towards Broward County School Superintendent Robert Runcie. (DeSantis decided that because Runcie is appointed, and not elected, he did not have the authority to remove him from office.)
“Well, he’s doing things the right way, which is the best thing for him to do. He shouldn’t just come in and start removing everyone he wants. Calling that grand jury ...” Kashuv said, waving his hand. “It’s such a huge deal.”
In light of the anniversary, I looked back over the past year and asked if Kyle felt if at any time he struggled over the fact the media was clearly in favor of the anti-gun students -- did he feel frustrated the press was not as eager to hear his support of the Second Amendment?
“I didn’t really care that much about the media,” he said, shaking his head. “I mean, if they wanted to talk with me, great, but I wasn’t worried about it. Plus, gun rights is not my focus anyway. I’m more about working towards making those responsible becoming accountable.” As reflected by his comments on the panel, lately Kyle’s focus has been on affecting institutional change in Broward.
I asked how much work he has done with Andrew Pollack, the father-turned-activist. “Mr. Pollack,” he began, but paused to shake his head in awe. “He is just amazing. What he has been through, and everything he has accomplished is such an amazing thing to see. I mean, every day he has to walk past his daughter’s room, and he is out there getting it done.” (Pollack’s daughter Meadow was one of shooter Nikolas Cruz's 17 victims last Feb. 14.)
So what sits in front of Kyle Kashuv in year 2, since the tragedy? “Just continuing to work and make those responsible who allowed a shooter in our school. And following the lead of Andrew Pollack, doing the work to make schools safer. Part of that is holding the people accountable who made schools unsafe.”
Brad Slager, a Fort Lauderdale freelance writer, wrote this story exclusively for Sunshine State News. He writes on politics and the entertainment industry and his stories appear in such publications as RedState and The Federalist
