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George Clooney, his wife Amal Clooney and Oprah Winfrey, as well as other Hollywood heavyweights on Monday pledged to donate tens of thousands of US dollars to fund a pro-gun control march in Washington, DC next month.
The "March for Our Lives" movement was initiated by the students who survived last week’s mass shooting in Parkland high school, Florida, where a 19-year-old armed with a semi-automatic rifle killed 17 people on campus.
The march is scheduled to take place on March 24, with sister rallies planned across the country demanding that US Congress come up with effective legislation to address the epidemic of gun violence in the United States.
Mourners look at candles, flowers and stuffed animals serving as a memorial for the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in a park in Parkland, Florida on February 16, 2018.
"Amal and I are so inspired by the courage and eloquence of these young men and women from Stoneman Douglas High School," Clooney said in a statement.
"Our family will be there on March 24 to stand side by side with this incredible generation of young people from all over the country," he added.
"In the name of our children Ella and Alexander, we're donating 500,000 US dollars to help pay for this groundbreaking event. Our children's lives depend on it."
Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw also pledged to fund the pro-gun control march with 500,000 US dollars each.
Film studio executive Jeffrey Katzenberg and his wife Marilyn pledged a similar amount, the Fortune reported.
Women embrace in a waiting area for parents of students after a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Feb. 14, 2018.
Overwhelmed
The pledge from the Clooneys, one of the biggest A-list couples on the planet, comes after other celebrities have called for greater gun controls since the Florida shooting.
"We want to express extreme gratitude for the amazing donation that George Clooney and his family have made," tweeted the Never Again account representing survivors of the Florida shooting.
"We are overwhelmed with the support, and we can't wait to march."
Students protest against gun violence outside of the White House just days after 17 people were killed in a shooting at a south Florida high school, Feb. 19, 2018.
US Congress is deadlocked on the gun debate, accomplishing nothing even after last October's killing of 58 people by a gunman in Las Vegas who had amassed 47 firearms to commit the worst mass shooting in recent US history.
The students organizing the March 24 rally say they are fed up "waiting for someone else" to take action to stop the US epidemic of mass school shootings, and are demanding a "comprehensive and effective bill" in Congress to address gun violence.
(CGTN)
