17 photos from Chicago’s March For Our Lives

Thousands swarmed Union Park for Chicago’s March for Our Lives rally on Saturday, accompanying a record turnout in Washington, D.C. and hundreds of other events across the country.

The Chicago event was organized by a group of students from the city and suburbs—and it grew so large the crowd overflowed the park and into nearby streets. The gun reform movement was sparked after 17 students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. were killed on Feb. 14.

Chicago’s event not only demanded gun reform nationwide, but called on local officials to find solutions for the city’s own violence. Speakers at the rally highlighted links between gun violence and poverty and pressed the mayor to do more.

One of the speakers at the event was Caitlyn Smith, a 12-year-old girl from Chicago Heights. She told the crowd how she became involved in ending Chicago violence after her older brother was shot in the head outside her former Englewood home seven years ago, according to reporting by the Chicago Tribune.

“I think it’s time that we make this right, and you start to fear me,” she said.

For a look at what the March for Our Lives was like in Chicago, check out the gallery below.