Powerful Images From the National Walkout

Thousands of students walked out of schools across the nation and even abroad as part of Wednesday's protest against gun violence, with the AP reporting that moods at the protests ranged from somber to angry. The walkout marked the one-month anniversary of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., that killed 17, and while most walkouts were planned to last for 17 minutes at 10am local time, USA Today reports that in Parkland, Stoneman Douglas students rejected requests from administrators that they return to class and instead walked two miles alongside students from a nearby middle school to a memorial set up for the victims. Students across the US read poems, chanted and waved signs, and in some cases, faced consequences threatened by administrators. See some of the scenes in our gallery; the New York Times has live updates. (More Parkland school shooting stories.)