Metro Detroit's Five March for Our Lives Events Are Part of Wide Focus on Gun Laws

While some Metro Detroit students and adults head to the national capital for Saturday's main gun control demonstration in response to the Valentine's Day school shooting in Florida, others will rally closer to home.

March for Our Lives events are organized in Detroit, Grosse Pointe Farms, Rochester, Keego Harbor and Ann Arbor.

Harry Susalla, a high school senior from Grosse Pointe, is a Detroit march organizer.

A student-led march through downtown begins at 11 a.m. at Rivard Plaza, where Atwater Street meets Riverwalk, and ends around 12:30 behind Renaissance Center. "Detroiters will march at the riverfront in view of Canada, a country that has 51 times fewer gun deaths than the United States," an online blurb says.

Listed speakers include U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence and State Reps. Stephanie Chang of Detroit and Robert Wittenberg of Oak Park. Among participating  groups are Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, Black Youth Project/Movement for Black Lives and Ceasefire Detroit.

The march route (see map below) is along RiverWalk to Hart Plaza, then north on Woodward Avenue to Campus Martius, and back to RiverWalk. A Facebook listing says it's "organized by a coalition of very dedicated Metro Detroit high school students, with support from a large group of university students and adult allies." 

The main organizers are Harry Susalla, a Grosse Pointe South High School senior, state Senate candidate Abraham Aiyash of Hamtramck, Jill Proctor and Brian Silvi of Dearborn, a University of Michigan-Dearborn junior.

Smaller rallies also are scheduled the same day in these cities:

• Grosse Pointe Farms​, noon: Messner Field, 176 McKinley Ave.
• Rochester, noon: Oakland University campus (Elliot Clock Tower), 318 Meadowbrook Rd.
• Keego Harbor, noon: City Hall, 2025 Beechmont, is the starting point for a 2.8-mile loop
• Ann Arbor, 11 a.m.: Pioneer High School, 601 W. Stadium Blvd.

Related coverage:

'As a Student, I Am Terrified:' A Detroit Teen's Reflections Before Saturday March

Saturday's route from Rivard Plaza to Campus Martius and back to Renaissance Center.