NBCMontana – 1.25M participated in March for Our Lives protests across US
“WASHINGTON (CIRCA) – Two researchers say that over 1.25 million people across the U.S. participated in protests related to the March for Our Lives, according to Mashable.
Mashable on Tuesday reported that if the estimate proves accurate it would rank March for Our Lives events among the largest youth-led protests since the Vietnam War.
Researchers Erica Chenoweth and Jeremy Pressman of the Crowd Counting Consortium generated the estimate for last Saturday’s wave of demonstrations nationwide.
The protests were inspired by the main March for Our Lives event in Washington, D.C. demanding lawmakers combat gun violence.
Chenoweth and Pressman said that there were 521 protests linked to March for Our Lives across America.
The pair added that there were 27 related events overseas, far behind the 261 international demonstrations associated with the 2017 Women’s March.
March for Our Lives’ estimated 1.25 million people would rank it among the biggest protests in American history overall.
The Washington Post reported in 2017 that around 4,157,894 people participated in events linked to the Women’s March that year.
The total, if accurate, would make the flood of 2017 Women’s March protests nationwide the largest single-day demonstration in recorded U.S. history.
Vox reported last January that roughly 1.6 million to 2.5 million people took part in 2018 Women’s March events nationwide last year.
Chenoweth and Pressman said that their best guess for Saturday’s turnout in just D.C. is about 471,000 people.
The pair used a 10 percent deduction of the highest estimated count averaged with a 10 percent boost to the lowest estimate to arrive at their total.
Digital Design and Imaging Service – which deploys drones to collect aerial date – estimates Saturday’s protest in D.C. attracted about 202,000 people.
March for Our Lives organizers, in contrast, estimated turnout around 800,000 people, citing RSVPs and public transportation use data.
Last weekend’s march in D.C. was organized by students who survived a February school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
Seventeen people were killed in the Feb. 14 attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, reigniting national debate over gun control.”
React, Comment & Share