As students and others participated in rallies worldwide to call for the end of gun violence, Escambia County Commissioner Doug Underhill took the marchers to task.
“Good morning to all you marchers,” Underhill wrote on his personal Facebook page. “You are wrong. My gun is not your problem, and my rights are not your business. Your fears and your hate are a very real danger to our Constitution. You are literally spending your Saturday demanding the government take away your rights. Pathetic."
Underhill said he has received some backlash but is not backing down.
"Something very tragic has happened, once again here in America, but more tragic than the event itself is the way we react to these things," Underhill told WEAR. "If you don't figure out a way to stop creating hate and propagating hate, then it doesn't matter what the tools of hate are, the end result will be the same and that will be dead people, dead children and rending the fabric of our society.”
Underhill also defended his use of the word “pathetic.”
"Arousing pity, especially through vulnerability or sadness," Underhill told WEAR. "That is exactly how I feel with this. I feel like we as a society are vulnerable."
Cindy Martin lost her son to gun violence and marched Saturday in Pensacola. She called Underhill’s statements offensive.
"I've been offended by all of the politicians, including President (Donald) Trump, that have been putting these young children down," Martin told WEAR. "They want change and they feel like the adults have failed them."
Martin stressed that the march was not about taking away Second Amendment rights.
"We're just trying to rephrase it so we can develop a safer environment for our children of today and for the future," she told WEAR.
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