Friday, April 20, is National School Walkout day, when students in schools around the country are expected to walk out to protest what organizers say is inaction by local, state and federal officials to take action to prevent gun violence.
As a gesture to help students who are planning to participate, actor Robert DeNiro has penned an “excuse letter” for anyone in need. CNN confirmed with DeNiro’s representatives that the letter did indeed come from him.
Need an #ExcuseMe letter for the #NationalSchoolWalkout? Here’s an excellent one from Robert DeNiro. pic.twitter.com/THE1kvw9Ui
— National School Walkout (@schoolwalkoutUS) April 18, 2018
Students in every state are expected to walk out of school at 10 a.m. local time and will gather for 13 seconds of silence to honor the 13 victims at Columbine. After that, students are asked to have discussions about gun violence and solutions, and then participate in events that have been planned by local walkout leaders.
The official website of National School Walkout has another excuse letter on it, this one from actress Julianne Moore:
Another #ExcuseMe from @_juliannemoore pic.twitter.com/HDHnHcIVmN
— National School Walkout (@schoolwalkoutUS) April 20, 2018
The event was originally conceived by Lane Murdoch, a 16-year-old sophomore from Ridgefield, Conn.
Goodnight everyone. Tomorrow we all make history with #NationalSchoolWalkout.
— L Maxine Murdock 🕺🏻 (@lanemurdock2002) April 20, 2018
Get some rest and if you wish to donate to support the movement do so here: https://t.co/W7y9jXy4mf pic.twitter.com/WWInfNQdqd