CODEPINK Protester Medea Benjamin, who was forcibly removed from this morning's NRA press conference in Washington, D.C., told HuffPost Live Friday that NRA lobbyist Wayne LaPierre showed himself to be "unbelievably out of touch with the American people" when he called for armed guards in every school in the country.
"I think that he had a message that didn't resonate very well with the journalists in there, much less the American public," Benjamin told HuffPost Live hosts Alyona Minkovski and Jacob Soboroff.
Benjamin said that she went into the press conference with a protest banner but did not to use it because she thought the group would "express a lot of sympathy for the poor families" and "give in on something." But when LaPierre instead called for armed police or volunteers in schools, Benjamin stood, raised her sign and shouted "the NRA has blood on its hands" repeatedly before being removed from the room.
According to its website, CODEPINK is a "women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end U.S. funded wars and occupations, to challenge militarism globally, and to redirect our resources into health care, education, green jobs and other life-affirming activities."
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.