Hearings to determine whether Parkland High School killer Nikolas Cruz should be sentenced to death began in Florida on Monday.
“My first name is Nik. I will be the next high school killer of the year 2018. My goal is to kill at least 20 people with an AR-15. It’s going to be a big event and when you see me on the news, you’ll know who I am. You are all going to die… I can’t wait”. Those words were spoken by the high school killer from Parkland, Florida, three days before he took action. The then 19-year-old murdered 17 people (14 students and three staff) on February 14, 2018. Hearings to determine whether or not he will face the death penalty began on Monday in the USA. At the start of the trial, prosecutor Mike Satz said the tragedy had been “planned” and that it was a “mass crime”. A total of 139 bullets were fired into Building 12 where the shooting took place.
To read : In the Footsteps of the Florida Killer
“Even the death penalty is not enough”
In October 2021, the accused pleaded guilty to all 17 murder charges against him. “I’m really sorry for what I did and I have to live with it every day,” he told the court. Now, he believes that it is the survivors and families of the victims who should decide whether or not he should be sentenced to death. But not everyone agrees. Cameron Kasky, a former student and now an activist for gun reform in the United States, said a death sentence was “barbaric”. According to him, reports ABC News, “it will not bring the victims back to us” and will only “produce a false sense of justice which in reality will only happen when the arms manufacturers and politicians who support them are held accountable. “. “The shooter does not deserve to live but the US government and our justice system are incapable of responsibly exercising power and determining the value of life. It is the politicians who support the gun lobby who should be held accountable,” he continued. Manuel Oliver, who for his part lost his 17-year-old son, Joaquin, told WPLG that the assailant should “die”. “And I think that’s not enough… Even the death penalty is not enough”.
The shooting was the worst school massacre in the United States since the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in which 26 people were killed. The drama of Parkland had aroused immense emotion, and a historic mobilization had been led by several young survivors of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and by the parents of victims. It culminated on March 24, 2018 when the “March for Our Lives” brought together 1.5 million people across the country, the largest national demonstration for better firearms control in the entire history of the United States. , suggesting to some the possibility of legislative change. This has not happened, and the sales of firearms have on the contrary increased in recent years in the United States, in particular during the Covid-19 pandemic. Last May, a new attack took place in Texas, in an elementary school in Uvalde, where 21 people, mostly children, were killed.