The prominent gun control movement founded by survivors of the 2018 Parkland high school shooting in Florida has splintered after one member set up his own commercial venture to challenge Donald Trump ally Mike Lindell and his My Pillow company.
David Hogg has been accused of “grift” by other leaders of the March for Our Lives group for his new Good Pillow venture, which the former Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school student launched just days before the 14 February anniversary of the massacre that took 17 lives.
In a tweeted statement, March for Our Lives (MFOL) announced that Hogg, 20, was taking a leave of absence as a board member “to take some time for himself to reflect and recommit to the mission”.
Pointedly, the statement, presumably authored by Hogg’s fellow founders, continued: “We want our youth activists, supporters and followers to know that the Good Pillow company is not associated with March for Our Lives.”
But it conceded: “Survivors of gun violence are whole people and we encourage them to find inspiration and passion outside of their trauma.”
Hogg, now a student at Harvard University, announced the formation of Good Pillow on Tuesday, and the company, set up in partnership with the Blockchain technology entrepreneur William LeGate, quickly amassed more than 80,000 Twitter followers.
Intended as a foil to My Pillow owner Lindell, who has been banned by Twitter and lost lucrative business deals for his support of Trump’s lies about a “stolen” presidential election, Good Pillow has pledged to be a “quality, ethical and sustainable company”.
Immediately after its launch, Good Pillow said it was going quiet for a few days to recognize the third anniversary of the Parkland shooting. “While we honor those we lost on that horrific day, we remain fully committed to delivering on what we’ve promised,” Hogg and LeGate said in a joint statement.
Cameron Kasky, 20, a fellow Parkland survivor, gun reform activist and MFOL founder, used Twitter to appear to attack Hogg’s actions, without mentioning him by name. “To those of you who marched, donated, lobbied, and called for change… I’m so sorry this is what it turned into. This is embarrassing,” he wrote in the first of a lengthy series of critical messages.
“But welcome to America, everything ends up a grift.”
In another thread, he wrote: “Hm, I see a lot of support for my pillow grift tweets from people in the Parkland community and people in the gun violence prevention community nationwide.”
It is the second time in two weeks that Hogg has been caught up in controversy. He called for the resignation of the extremist Georgia Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene last month after video emerged of her harassing him in Washington DC, following the conspiracy theorist’s claims that the Parkland shooting was staged.
On Wednesday, he posted a Twitter statement of his own, admitting that he had said “maybe too much” ahead of the anniversary, and apologizing for “undermining” his March For Our Lives peers.
“To my fellow organizers and those I love most, I want to express my deepest apologies,” he wrote. “You all have been there for me through some of the roughest times of my life, and I also want to thank you for your continued practice of holding me accountable. Fellow activists who do not have the platform and privilege that I have reminded me that this work takes unwavering commitment.”
Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime, 14, was one of the victims of the shooting, offered Hogg his support. “A very mature decision. Always here if you need,” he wrote in a tweet.
As teenagers, the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas survivors formed March for Our Lives in the days immediately following the Valentine’s Day shooting by a former student, meeting in each others’ bedrooms and local parks to plot tactics and strategy.
It grew quickly into a global movement pressing for gun law controls and reforms, and in March 2018, six weeks after the shooting, hundreds of thousands rallied in Washington DC, around the US and in cities worldwide calling for change.
Its most prominent founding members, including Hogg, Kasky, Emma González and Jaclyn Corin, have continued their activism, since graduating to universities and colleges, and maintain an influential platform with millions of social media followers between them.
But despite the reach of the youth activists’ messaging the group and allies such as Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action have not been able to achieve large-scale federal or state gun reforms.
Numerous gun control bills in Congress were thwarted by previous Republican majorities, and smaller successes have been mostly limited to state legislatures, such as Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act that raised the firearms buying age from 18 to 21, banned rapid-fire bump stocks and improved mental health funding.
March for Our Lives has also worked to reduce the gun lobby’s influence on national politics, and celebrated the bankruptcy of the National Rifle Association last month.
Joe Biden’s election to the White House, meanwhile, has raised the group’s optimism that improved gun safety laws, including reinstating the nation’s lapsed ban on assault weapons, could soon be back on the table.
In a press briefing on Thursday, Jen Psaki, Biden’s press secretary, said: “Addressing gun violence in the country and putting in place additional safety measures is something that the president has a personal commitment to.”
Copyright © 2021 theguardian.com. All rights reserved.
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I wouldn’t get Hogg’s pillows if he was giving them away. Even my dogs would be insulted.
This is just another young fool that thinks he’s more important than he actually is. Guess the poor kids feelings got hurt when someone called him out on something. Of course those type people can attract older money people that will back their fool hardy ideas. This kid has been a phony ever since the Parkland shooting took place. Wonder who’s paying the bill for this kid to go to Harvard? Most likely another left wing liberal with money.
I spend a lot of time, between online viewing/reading, listening to on-air radio programming, and of course cable news viewing. (I live in California, southeast SF Bay Area, so I’ve given up reading local so-called newspapers or watch local news–sorry guys, waste of my time, half the time you can’t even get the weather right…but I digress…)
But for all my perusing the multimedia news offerings I listed, I must say, it’s been an AGE since I last heard saw or read anything about the opportunistic media man ***** Hogg. While it wasn’t so much a more pleasant time, at least I was able to forget about him. And for a first time after that long stretch of time, there his is, once again, in a headline, and wouldn’t you know it is over something controversial.
I can only hope that we can look forward to another long time without having to hear about his tedious misadventures. Although I would welcome hearing that his so-called new venture crashes and burns. No, I’m not bitter, just getting fed up with misplaced egos and mediocrity.
I wonder, will we EVER know what QUALIFIED Deserving applicant to harvard, got BOOTED to make room for Hogg??
They obviously will be stuffing their pillows with the feather droppings of the tweeting liberal cuckoo birds, no doubt shot, not choked out or quickly beheaded.
I think the pillows will be stuffed with soft little snowflakes so the snowflake people can sleep well at night.
I wouldn’t give one to PRISONERS, let alone my dog!
Not!
None of the Parkland students had any means of self-defense and they’ve been fighting to make sure it remains that way for all citizens. More people get killed in car accidents so let’s follow their logic and ban driving to prevent deaths.
In D.C. the Democrats are trying to get cops out of schools. That’s real commitment to the children.
More teenagers die while texting and driving than in mass shootings. We should ban cell phones.
“IF it saves just one life, it’s worth it”, is their common phrase, they love using towards guns.
SO LETS PUSH TO apply that to cars and cell phones! Even hands free, still is Distracting.
“Hogg, now a student at Harvard University”. These are the students that get into Harvard? Oh, I forgot, Hogg wants to take guns out of the law abiding citizens hands, so that is why Hogg got into Harvard. Yep, the best and brightest certainly get into Harvard, don’t they? The best and brightest communists that is and the best and brightest who throw away our Constitution! Hey Hogg, do you think criminals will not be able to obtain guns, when the rest of the population is banned from owning guns?
More and more Harvard, seems like a TOILET BOWL, than a once respected educational institution.
“and I also want to thank you for your continued practice of holding me accountable.”
“Good Pillow said it was going quiet for a few days….”
“A very mature decision. Always here if you need,”
Sounds like a mature majority partner grifter’s business decision to me.
Holding him accountable? FOR WHAT? When has this twerp, ever been held accountable, for a damn thing?
So “Piglet the Phoney” has returned! I guess he’s counting on people forgetting that he wasn’t even at school the day of the shooting!
It’s really a sad day that we’ve arrived at a point that we decide on buying or not buying a product based on the political views of the owner. Lindell has some awesome products that EVERYONE would appreciate yet the hateful leftists have pledged to boycott AND this phony nut has announced an alternative solely based on the hatred of Lindell’s political stance.
The difference is Lindell is supporting American values with his energy and money. The Left is comprised of wealthy business folks who want America enslaved and has no loyalty to our constitution.
The left also has a large force of trolls.
That’s leftists for ya. THEY HAVE TO make damn near EVERYTHING political..
Was there ever any follow-up investigation as to why the shooter went to the school that day? It was stated he had mental health issues but surely they know more now. Quite often they blame bullying or harassment by other students, or maybe anger at a teacher, but I don’t remember any rationale or reports coming out, not that there could be something to really explaining. It is kind of creepy that some people are making a business from the shootings and death of deceased children.
I doubt it.. AND if there was, i doubt we’d ever see the results OF said investigation.
“Grift” is right…. but let the left eat themselves..
Can I get a video of that?
Is he going to call it “Cry Pillow” or better yet, “Lie Pillow”, being that Hogg was not even at the school, it’s a Hell of a reach to call this little loud mouth brat a “survivor”, more an attention ***** than anything else.
That little puke has milked this travesty for all it’s worth, a true grifter, a carnival barker with all the wonderous qualities of a devoted narcissist, “Hey, look at me. I have never done anything worth while, never achieved anything worth mention, but I need to be the center of attention!”
Just how far can a human being sink, to what depth of depravity are some willing to go, to actually seek notoriety from the deaths of 17 young people? To enrich himself off of their deaths?
To my way of thinking, this little puke is no better than the shooter, a waste of skin, a useless rotting meat bag, a disgusting excuse for a human being, for even a Soyboy! I wish him failure and horrific misery for the rest of his life, he does not deserve even to have the merciful release of death, he needs to live with terror and pain for a very, very long time!
Where’s that little hog boy been hiding out? I miss him.
I don’t. IN FACT, i was HAPPY, he was “Off the radar” so to speak, for the past year or so.
I thought of an excellent use for “The Pillow”.
The liberals want us to start wearing 2,3 face masks. Well, THEY can use “The Pillow” and strap it to their faces. We wouldn’t have to see their ugly mugs and they just might suffocate themselves.
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GOPUSA in this article mentions ‘Trump’s lies about a “stolen” presidential election’? Please PROVE Trump lied! You are just like the RINOs that voted to convict! I believe the election was stolen.
So Pig is back. Hog and pig are one and the same Here suey, suey
Still can’t believe anyone is giving Hogg time. He wasn’t even in school that day.
YOU think these cretins care about that fact??