Latest news with #StudentsDemandAction
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Gun safety group says Kentucky college student from Pa. lied about surviving high school shooting
Calvin Polachek, center, in jacket and tie, said he survived a mass shooting at his Pennsylvania high school during a gun safety rally in February at the Kentucky Capitol. The shooting never happened, according to organizers, the local school system and police. (Sarah Ladd/ Kentucky Lantern) Everytown for Gun Safety says a man who spoke at a February rally for gun safety it helped organize in Frankfort lied about his experience surviving a school shooting in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. The event, which the Lantern and other media outlets covered, happened Feb. 12 in the Kentucky State Capitol. Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action hosted a variety of speakers who advocated against gun violence. One of the speakers, Calvin Polachek, said that when he was a high school student in Pennsylvania, he lost people in a school shooting, including claiming that he saw his best friend lying in a pool of blood. Polachek 'is not an active volunteer with Moms Demand Action or Students Demand Action, and we are deeply disappointed that someone would exploit the tragic, lived experience of many to use our platform to share a story that was not true,' Sarah Boland Heine, the senior director of communications for Everytown, said in a Wednesday statement. The Lantern reached out to Moms Demand Action, which is part of the Everytown gun safety group network, after receiving numerous messages from people who said they were classmates or relatives of Polachek and that the shooting never happened 'Calvin reached out to our Kentucky chapter, shamefully lied to our volunteers and shared a tragic story that we later learned was not true,' Heine said. 'This is an affront to the countless survivors of gun violence who show extraordinary courage every day by reliving their darkest moments in service of the fight to end our country's gun violence crisis. We are revisiting our guidance to our grassroots networks in an effort to ensure this never happens again.' Polachek did not immediately respond to Facebook and LinkedIn messages from the Lantern. Polachek was identified as a University of Louisville student at the rally. A UofL spokesperson said Wednesday that he is currently a graduate student. The Dallas School District, in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, said in a Wednesday statement that it 'is aware of a video clip and accompanying article that appears to depict a former Dallas student speaking about a school shooting at Dallas in 2017.' 'Thankfully, that never happened,' the school said. 'The discussion on the clip about Dallas and school violence is not factually accurate.' The school district did not immediately return a voicemail from the Lantern. Meanwhile, the Dallas Township Police Department said the claims made that day at the rally are 'entirely false.' 'The widespread sharing of a fabricated tragedy is not only reckless, it is harmful,' the police department said in a news release. 'It fuels unnecessary fear, disrespects the experiences of real victims of school violence and misleads the public with a narrative that has no basis in truth.' This story may be updated.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Gun safety group says UofL student lied about surviving high school shooting
Calvin Polachek, center, in jacket and tie, said he survived a mass shooting at his Pennsylvania high school during a gun safety rally in February at the Kentucky Capitol. The shooting never happened, according to organizers, the local school system and police. (Sarah Ladd/ Kentucky Lantern) Everytown for Gun Safety says a man who spoke at a February rally for gun safety it helped organize in Frankfort lied about his experience surviving a school shooting. The event, which the Lantern and other media outlets covered, happened Feb. 12 in the Kentucky State Capitol. Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action hosted a variety of speakers who advocated against gun violence. One of the speakers, Calvin Polachek, said that when he was a high school student in Pennsylvania, he lost people in a school shooting, including claiming that he saw his best friend lying in a pool of blood. Polachek 'is not an active volunteer with Moms Demand Action or Students Demand Action, and we are deeply disappointed that someone would exploit the tragic, lived experience of many to use our platform to share a story that was not true,' Sarah Boland Heine, the senior director of communications for Everytown, said in a Wednesday statement. The Lantern reached out to Moms Demand Action, which is part of the Everytown gun safety group network, after receiving numerous messages from people who said they were classmates or relatives of Polachek and that the shooting never happened 'Calvin reached out to our Kentucky chapter, shamefully lied to our volunteers and shared a tragic story that we later learned was not true,' Heine said. 'This is an affront to the countless survivors of gun violence who show extraordinary courage every day by reliving their darkest moments in service of the fight to end our country's gun violence crisis. We are revisiting our guidance to our grassroots networks in an effort to ensure this never happens again.' Polachek did not immediately respond to Facebook and LinkedIn messages from the Lantern. Polachek was identified as a University of Louisville student at the rally. A UofL spokesperson said Wednesday that he is currently a graduate student. The Dallas School District, in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, said in a Wednesday statement that it 'is aware of a video clip and accompanying article that appears to depict a former Dallas student speaking about a school shooting at Dallas in 2017.' 'Thankfully, that never happened,' the school said. 'The discussion on the clip about Dallas and school violence is not factually accurate.' The school district did not immediately return a voicemail from the Lantern. Meanwhile, the Dallas Township Police Department said the claims made that day at the rally are 'entirely false.' 'The widespread sharing of a fabricated tragedy is not only reckless, it is harmful,' the police department said in a news release. 'It fuels unnecessary fear, disrespects the experiences of real victims of school violence and misleads the public with a narrative that has no basis in truth.' This story may be updated.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Gun safety group says UofL student lied about surviving high school shooting
Calvin Polachek, center, in jacket and tie, said he survived a mass shooting at his Pennsylvania high school during a gun safety rally in February at the Kentucky Capitol. The shooting never happened, according to organizers, the local school system and police. (Sarah Ladd/ Kentucky Lantern) Everytown for Gun Safety says a man who spoke at a February rally for gun safety it helped organize in Frankfort lied about his experience surviving a school shooting. The event, which the Lantern and other media outlets covered, happened Feb. 12 in the Kentucky State Capitol. Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action hosted a variety of speakers who advocated against gun violence. One of the speakers, Calvin Polachek, said that when he was a high school student in Pennsylvania, he lost people in a school shooting, including claiming that he saw his best friend lying in a pool of blood. Polachek 'is not an active volunteer with Moms Demand Action or Students Demand Action, and we are deeply disappointed that someone would exploit the tragic, lived experience of many to use our platform to share a story that was not true,' Sarah Boland Heine, the senior director of communications for Everytown, said in a Wednesday statement. The Lantern reached out to Moms Demand Action, which is part of the Everytown gun safety group network, after receiving numerous messages from people who said they were classmates or relatives of Polachek and that the shooting never happened 'Calvin reached out to our Kentucky chapter, shamefully lied to our volunteers and shared a tragic story that we later learned was not true,' Heine said. 'This is an affront to the countless survivors of gun violence who show extraordinary courage every day by reliving their darkest moments in service of the fight to end our country's gun violence crisis. We are revisiting our guidance to our grassroots networks in an effort to ensure this never happens again.' Polachek did not immediately respond to Facebook and LinkedIn messages from the Lantern. Polachek was identified as a University of Louisville student at the rally. A UofL spokesperson said Wednesday that he is currently a graduate student. The Dallas School District, in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, said in a Wednesday statement that it 'is aware of a video clip and accompanying article that appears to depict a former Dallas student speaking about a school shooting at Dallas in 2017.' 'Thankfully, that never happened,' the school said. 'The discussion on the clip about Dallas and school violence is not factually accurate.' The school district did not immediately return a voicemail from the Lantern. Meanwhile, the Dallas Township Police Department said the claims made that day at the rally are 'entirely false.' 'The widespread sharing of a fabricated tragedy is not only reckless, it is harmful,' the police department said in a news release. 'It fuels unnecessary fear, disrespects the experiences of real victims of school violence and misleads the public with a narrative that has no basis in truth.' This story may be updated.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Graduate's claims of school shooting at Dallas High School debunked
DALLAS, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A graduate of Dallas High School was seen in a video online falsely claiming he lost his brother and best friend in a school shooting in Dallas in 2017. While speaking at a Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action rally earlier this year in Frankfort, Kentucky, Calvin Polachek, a 2020 graduate of Dallas High School claimed he was a survivor of a deadly shooting that took place at the school. That shooting never happened. The February rally took place in the state capital where gun safety advocates demanded changes in Kentucky's gun laws. That video of Polachek aired on WDKY and appeared on their website. The story has since been removed. International student weighs in after student visa applications paused Once the video circulated, the school district released a statement confirming there was no shooting at the Dallas School District. The District is aware of a video clip and accompanying article that appears to depict a former Dallas student speaking about a school shooting at Dallas in that never discussion on the clip about Dallas and school violence is not factually District Solicitor is supporting an investigation and communication regarding the circulating clip. Dallas School District It is unclear how Polachek was selected to be a speaker at the event. We will have more on this story on later editions of 28/22 News. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arizona wants to allow concealed carry at college games? Bad idea
I'm a 20-year-old student at Paradise Valley Community College and volunteer with Students Demand Action. I urge Gov. Katie Hobbs to veto Senate Bill 1020, which would force Arizona's colleges and universities to allow people with concealed-carry permits to bring guns to our classrooms, dorms and sporting events. This reckless bill would make my campus less safe. The Maricopa Community Colleges Governing Board, which oversees my campus and nine others, has prohibited firearms except in very limited circumstances. Just like the Arizona Board of Regents, they have made this smart choice to protect students, teachers and visitors. This bill would take the choice away from university governing boards and instead mandate allowing concealed carry on campus. As a student, I know that nobody needs a gun to go to school. If this bill becomes law, it would allow guns where they do not belong. Students like me would no longer feel safe at school. The Legislature has again tried to make campuses less safe, but Governor Hobbs can still veto SB 1020. The lives of our students, staff and faculty depend on it. Carmen Rojas, Phoenix What's on your mind? Send us a letter to the editor online or via email at opinions@ This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Concealed carry will make Arizona colleges less safe | Letter
