Local Zeke Reister participates in March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C.

Leavenworth resident Zeke Reister, a former school teacher, participated in the March 24 event in Washington, D.C. in support of March for Our Lives, which drew 800,000 people. The reason Reister travelled to our nation’s capital was the march, but it became much bigger than that.
“I haven’t been back there since ‘69 when I was 19. It’s a cool place. I recommend it. It’s worth the price of admission. Everything is free,” Reister said. “After that shooting at Parkland and I saw what they were doing, I just felt compelled to go, take the time and money and join it. That was the main reason.”
Reister travelled alone, but then met up with his sister-in-law, her daughter and friend, who drove 10 hours from Boston to meet him. After taking an overnight flight, Reister took in the sights including the Vietnam Memorial.
He also had an appointment with Congressman Dave Reichert, but he was not available in his office, so instead he talked to a staffer for about an hour about gun control.
Early estimates were the march would draw around 500,000, so the 800,000 was a surprise.
“It started at noon. Our hotel was in Alexandria (Virginia), so we were a half-hour on the Metro. The east coast is a different place. I grew up here (in Leavenworth.) I was surprised at the number of people getting on the Metro from way out there with signs, going to march. Every stop, more people piled on,” Reister said.
The train dropped them on Pennsylvania Avenue, about a half-hour before the march. Some people had been there since morning, he said.
“When moved maybe 100 yards in 2.5 hours because it was that packed. I felt like a red blood cell in a capillary. There just wasn’t room. It was really packed but we got some pretty good pictures,” he said.
Reister said there was no way to know how big the crowd was, given their vantage point, right in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue. They could see the stage, where there were big screens and sound system were set up.
“It was a little scary because I haven’t been in big crowds. What if there was some idiot there? People are packed in there. That was disconcerting. Scary. We wanted to be on the edge but we couldn’t get to the edge,” Reister said.
Reister did not know it would be only high school kids speaking. He said that got to be more impressive as they listened. He admired the kids who spoke to the large crowd.
“These high school were speaking to a crowd of 800,000. I guess if you can look down the barrel of an AR-15, there is not much to scare you,” Reister said. “I think their passion just overrode this whole thing. It wasn’t just the Parkland High kids. There were high school kids from south LA, south Chicago. They were all very intentional, very articulate and they weren’t partisan. It was the issue of the violence and the access to those weapons they were talking about.”
There was an 11-year old boy and 11-year old girl who spoke. Reister said he was blown away, admiring their poise. Ultimately, Reister wondered what difference this would all make.
The 800,000 people gathered in D.C. was just part of it, he said.
“They had 800 demonstrations across the county, which I think speaks even broader about where we might be with this. We’ll find out in November what it matters. You can talk this, but it’s between now and November that matters,” Reister said. “We will see. People were really excited. It’s in the trench work now, registering people to vote. They were out registering people to vote. Kids were walking around checking people to see if they are registered.”
Reister wondered if this were a tipping point event, like Rosa Parks with civil rights. He thinks it is pretty close.
“I think the fact they organized this thing, with help. They have kept the message on point. I haven’t seen anything that says they’ve abused where they’re at. They’ve kept their positions clear,” he said.
There are a lot of people listening, Reister said.
“I’m seeing way more letters generated from hunters like myself who grew up around here, that feel strongly this is action that needs to happen. It’s not against the second amendment. It is an access thing, it is not against guns, per say. It’s an access thing about weapons of war that have come into public hands,” he said.
Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.