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Why One Student Sat Alone as Thousands of Others Marched for Parkland Victims

On a day when thousands of students walked out of schools across the country, one young man in Denver was sitting alone.
Courtesy: P.J. Shields

Timezone by timezone, students left their classrooms at 10 a.m. on March 14, 2018 - one month exactly since 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

Thousands marched in hopes of changing gun laws, and to spend 17 minutes in silence for the victims. Others stayed back, based on their own principles.

And in Denver, at the School of Science and Technology, one 7th grader named Brendan Conners sat alone, quietly.

He walked out of school when his classmates did, but stayed outside when many of them eventually went back inside.

Brendan decided he would observe a minute of silence for every person killed in a school shooting since Columbine in 1999.

His mom tells 9NEWS that he had gone online, did some research and found the number.

In total, he sat alone for three hours and 42 minutes. He came back in at 1:42.

His teacher says staff watched him the entire time, and brought him sunscreen and an umbrella for shade. She's the one who took the picture.

When we asked Brendan's mother for permission to share his photo, and his story, she said her son wanted people to see that they should not be afraid to take a stand for something they believe in... even if they are standing - or sitting - alone.

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