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MPR News Staff
St. Paul

Photos: Minnesota students walk out, join national gun violence protest

Evelyn Ryan, left, and Jordan Nelson, right, embrace.
Roseville High School juniors Evelyn Ryan, left, and Jordan Nelson, right, embrace as the names of the students killed are read. "It feels strange. It's my sister's birthday, and they were talking about being someone's sister," Ryan said.
Evan Frost | MPR News

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Updated: 1:05 p.m. | Posted: 5:49 a.m.

Students and staff in dozens of Minnesota schools walked out of their classes at 10 a.m. Wednesday to honor the victims of last month's school shooting in Florida and to call for tougher gun-control laws.

The protest, part of a coordinated national demonstration, was expected to span 17 minutes, one minute for each of the students and staff members shot and killed Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

At Rocori High School in Cold Spring, Minn., the walkout was expected to last 19 minutes. Two students were shot and killed by a classmate in 2003. The two additional minutes will honor victims Aaron Rollins and Seth Bartell.

Their walkout is geared more toward preventing gun violence rather than advocating for stricter gun control.

"If someone is alone or an outcast, it would be going out of your way to talk to them," senior Rachel Theisen told MPR News Wednesday morning. "Walking up to someone, someone who you wouldn't usually talk to and just saying, 'Hey, is everything OK? Let's talk.'"

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Gallery
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Students gather outside St. Paul's Central High School.
Students gather outside St. Paul's Central High School. Wednesday's 17-minute walkout was one of several protests planned for coming weeks. Another round of school walkouts is planned for April 20, the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado.
Jon Collins | MPR News
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Joseph Roberto reads the names of the 17 students killed
Roseville Area High School junior Joseph Roberto, who read the names of the 17 killed, said organizers at his school want federal and state action on gun control to prevent future incidents like last month's school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
Evan Frost | MPR News
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Students of Roseville High School bow their heads.
"If I'm sitting in class thinking about when's the next lockdown, when's the next school shooting is that school shooting going to be my school, can I really focus in school. It's another important issue to be able to focus in school and feel that I am safe within my own school," Roberto said.
Evan Frost | MPR News