MORRIS COUNTY

Morris County student team plans March for Our Lives rally

Peggy Wright
Morristown Daily Record
Members of a 16-person student committee that organized the March 24 March For Our Lives rally in Morristown. From left, front row: Brianna Arends, Caitlyn Dempsey, Mia Paone, Evie Mason, Meghana Maddali. Back row from left, Lexie Stephens, Bella Bhimani, Isabella Bosrock.

Thousands are expected to participate in a three-hour March For Our Lives rally across the country on Saturday. A team of students representing a number of Morris County high schools will mirror the nationwide message to end gun violence and school shootings with a march in Morristown.

Bella Bhimani, a 16-year-old sophomore from West Morris Mendham High School took the lead in organizing the local march after 14 students and three adults were shot and killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Valentine's Day. She reached out to other students via Instagram, Facebook and a GoFundMe account, and the idea quickly gained momentum. In no time, a 16-student committee of county high schools was formed.

Hashtag #NeverAgain is being used to unite events in Washington, D.C., and about 800 other locations across the country.

Two months after 15,000 descended on the town and the Morristown Green for the Jan. 20 Women's March, Police Chief Peter Demnitz said his department will be ready for the 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. rally. Demnitz said he has met several times with Bhimani, her mother Lisa Bhimani, and others to discuss logistics of the event.

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"I do think there's going to be a lot of interest in this event," Demnitz said, who estimates thousands will attend.

Aside from West Morris Mendham High School, other high schools represented by committee members include Morris Knolls, Chatham, Morristown and Randolph

Meghana Maddali, 15, and a Morris Knolls High School student who is part of the steering committee, said at least 3,000 people have signed up to attend.

"I feel it's an issue that affects every student. It's a non-partisan event," said committee member Mia Paone, a Chatham High School student.

The event will start at 11 a.m. at Morristown Town Hall, 200 South St., with introductory remarks by Mayor Timothy Dougherty and a welcome from Bhimani.  The marchers will proceed down South Street, turn right on South Park Place, turn right on Dumont Place, turn right on Pine Street, and left on South Street to return to the front lawn of Town Hall. From there a slate of student speakers will take the stage.

Members of the student organization committee that planned the March 24 March For Our Lives rally in Morristown: from left, Brianna Arends of Randolph, Caitlyn Dempsey of Randolph, and Mia Paone of Chatham.

The Green is off-limits for now because of extensive lawn trampling that occurred during the Women's March, officials said. Demnitz said roads along the route will be closed to traffic and re-opened after marchers pass through.

The youth speakers will include members of the student committee; Nile Birch, a Morristown High School student who helped establish Melanin Minds, an African-American group that positively promotes black culture; Benjamin Douglas, a Bloomfield teen who participates in the annual 400-mile bicycle ride from the U.S. capitol in Washington, D.C. to Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six adults were killed in the Dec. 14. 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

"A lot of young people are willing to go out of their way to end gun violence," said Caitlyn Dempsey, 17, a Randolph High School student.

"To me, I think the rally is really important not only to bring awareness to gun violence," said Isabella Bosrock, a senior at West Morris Mendham High School. She said the rally will show there need to be legislative changes. "One of the most amazing things that have come out since Parkland is this movement of young people knowing they have a voice," Bosrock said.

Morristown High School student Lexie Stephens discusses the March 24 March For Our Lives rally in Morristown.

"If we want there to be no assault weapons in our future then we're the ones who are going to make that happen," Bosrock said. "So I think it's really amazing to see how there's been this empowering of the younger generation. For so long people have told us 'you're too young to do that or you have to go to college to do that or get your GED to do that."

Through a GoFundMe campaign, the effort raised $9,333 as of Monday to defray costs of event permits and a stage and sound system. The march has attracted sponsors that include the grassroots groups Blue Wave NJ and NJ 11th For Change, League of Women Voters and Moms Demand Action.

The students said they have their own views on guns. The organizers said they don't want to outlaw guns, they want greater controls on who has access to firearms and a push for responsible use of weapons. Morristown High School Lexie Stephens said she's against reciprocity. She does not want New Jersey to honor less-restrictive laws from other states when their residents visit and bring weapons. 

Students said they believe there will be counter-protesters along the march route, but they will stay focused on their message. They expect some marchers to wear buttons, orange knitted hats and T-shirts created for the event. They will be encouraging students to register to vote once they turn 18.

"If legislators aren't supporting the issues other people support then it's the people's job to vote them out and elect people to represent them," said Paone.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.