Yesterday at the March for Our Lives, thousands gathered to advocate gun control. While there was not any violence itself at the rally, there certainly were many in the crowd who blamed past violence on Florida Senator Marco Rubio. Some went even so far as to say the Republican had blood on his hands for the 17 innocent Americans lost in Parkland, FL.
Parkland student and media 'icon' David Hogg kickstarted his speech by placing a price tag at the head of the podium. "I’m going to start off by putting this price tag right here as a reminder for you guys to know how much Marco Rubio took for every student's life in Florida," he told the crowd as if to say Rubio cares more about money than innocent lives.
In one particularly egregious sign, the Catholic Sen. Rubio is featured with ashes on his forehead from Ash Wednesday made to look like blood. The Parkland shooting took place on Ash Wednesday this year. That sign also says #KidKiller and #NRABitch.
This #MarchForOurLives attacks Marco Rubio for his Catholic faith and draws a blood cross on his forehead. pic.twitter.com/4zrhlkQreN
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) March 24, 2018
As shown in this Fox News clip, several other signs attacked the senator as well.
Some at ‘March for Our Lives’ rally call out Sen. Marco Rubio, mock his faith pic.twitter.com/qmXbf44SVy
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) March 25, 2018
Former Gov. Sarah Palin, who was accused of inciting the 2011 shooting against Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords, tweeted out that the incident was "Just sad..."
Just sad... https://t.co/E4JIq8EaiR
— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) March 25, 2018
Last year, the New York Times ran an editorial blaming Sarah Palin's PAC for causing the shooting by feuatuing Giffords name in crosshairs.
"In 2011, when Jared Lee Loughner opened fire in a supermarket parking lot, grievously wounding Representative Gabby Giffords and killing six people, including a 9-year-old girl, the link to political incitement was clear. Before the shooting, Sarah Palin’s political action committee circulated a map of targeted electoral districts that put Ms. Giffords and 19 other Democrats under stylized cross hairs," the Times wrote.
The New York Times was forced to issue a correction.
We're sorry about this and we appreciate that our readers called us on the mistake. We've corrected the editorial. https://t.co/t1FZ3iEYQJ pic.twitter.com/k7WW5uJIQO
— NYT Opinion (@nytopinion) June 15, 2017
So far, no Democrats have condemned the rhetoric used against Sen. Rubio.