While Arizona House Democrats were introducing students who came to protest for gun control on March 14, a Republican state senator was shifting the blame for a mass shooting in Florida to Obama-era school disciplinary guidelines, Arizona Capitol Times reports.
What angered Sen. Rick Gray, a Peoria Republican, was students filled the visitors gallery in the House of Representatives and were introduced one-by-one by Democratic representatives for well over an hour.
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Gray echoed recent claims by President Trump and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, that placed the blame for a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on policies designed to end disciplinary measures that discriminate against minorities.Those policies, aimed at ending discriminatory school discipline measures, or what Gray called the “so-called school-to-prison pipeline,” are really to blame for the Parkland, Florida, shooting, he said.
Cap Times reported Sen. Martin Quezada, D-Phoenix, later chastised Gray for attempting to divert attention away from issues of gun safety.
“To claim that the school-to-prison pipeline is a cause of a shooting in a school was shocking to hear,” Quezada said.
