David Hogg

• This article is about the American anti-gun rights activist. For the Indiana politician, see: David Hogg (politician). For the US Army officer, see: David R. Hogg.
  
  

David Hogg
Hogg speech at "March For Our Lives" political rally
Born	David Miles Hogg 2000 (age 23–24) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Residence	Parkland, Florida, U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
Occupation	Gun de-legalization activist
Years active	2018–present
Organization	Never Again MSD
Known for	Advocacy for gun control
YouTube information
Channels	Hogg's Vlogs
Years active	2014–present
Subscribers	4,641
Total views	1,069,946
Last updated: April 12, 2018

David Miles Hogg (born April 12, 2000) is a far-left American anti-gun activist who was near the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting on February 14, 2018, and afterward became prominent as a gun control advocate, and an activist against the unregulated public possession of firearms. He is one of twenty founding members of Never Again MSD, a political group that includes Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (MSD) students. In conjunction with his gun control advocacy, he has helped lead several left-wing protests, marches, and boycotts. He has also been accused of being a crisis actor.

Early life and education

Hogg is originally from Los Angeles, California. He moved to Florida at the beginning of high school. He is the son of Kevin Hogg, a former agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Rebecca Boldrick, a teacher for Broward County Public Schools in Broward County, Florida.

Hogg chose to attend Stoneman Douglas High School because of the television production classes it offered. He is a Teenlink reporter for the Sun Sentinel. He is expected to graduate in mid-2018 from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Hogg has been accepted to several universities including the University of California, Irvine, but has not yet decided which university he will attend. He planned to take a year off before starting college to work on the 2018 mid-term elections. He would work for Democratic or other liberal/progressive candidates who favor legal restrictions on non-governmental or non-government authorized ownership of firearms.

Stoneman Douglas High School shooting

While reportedly a senior at Stoneman Douglas in Parkland, Florida, Hogg was on or near the campus when the shooter, Nikolas Cruz, a 19-year-old former student at the high school, started shooting with a semi-automatic rifle after pulling the fire alarm. Hogg, who said he was in his AP environmental science class, told the teacher that the repeated "pop" sounds the class heard sounded like gunshots. Hogg said a culinary arts teacher pulled Hogg and others inside her classroom and they hid in a closet.

Hogg discovered that a shooting was occurring at their high school in real time. He used his cell phone to interview other students in the closet. Hogg's sister, a freshman at the high school, corresponded with her brother via text message. After about an hour, SWAT officers escorted them out.

Opposition to private gun ownership

After the school shooting, Hogg emerged as a leader in the anti-gun movement, voicing his opinion on gun control and gun violence. He has demanded that elected officials pass new gun control measures and has condemned officials who take donations from the NRA, and has urged them to compromise on legislation to restrict or outlaw guns.

Hogg joined the social media movement and gun control group Never Again MSD shortly after its formation. Hogg flew to Los Angeles on February 21, 2018, to be on The Dr. Phil Show with Phil McGraw, along with his sister, to discuss the shooting and suspected shooter. Hogg, along with fellow activist Emma González, blamed the National Rifle Association (NRA) for school shootings. He declined to go to the White House on February 21 to meet with President Donald Trump, saying that Trump could come to Parkland if he wanted to talk.

When Republican candidate Leslie Gibson, who was running unopposed for the Maine House of Representatives, described fellow Parkland student Emma González as a "skinhead lesbian", Hogg called for somebody to challenge the Republican; Eryn Gilchrist decided to run as a Democrat to challenge Gibson for the position; as did Republican former State Senator Thomas Martin, Jr.. Gibson dropped out of the race in response to public reaction to his comments.

Hogg was featured on the cover of an April 2018 edition of Time, along with fellow anti-gun activists Jaclyn Corin, Emma Gonzalez, Cameron Kasky and Alex Wind.

Hogg claims that he is a supporter of the Second Amendment but that gun owners need to be regulated, saying, "99.9 percent of the people that are in the NRA are responsible, safe gun owners and I respect them for that, joining an organization that wants to support safe gun ownership is excellent.”

In an interview with Fox News, Hogg favored regulations that prohibit those suffering from mental illnesses from acquiring guns. He favored: "Raising the federal age of gun ownership and possession to the age of 21; banning all bump stocks; making sure that we have universal background checks; making sure that people that have committed acts of domestic violence are no longer able to get a gun" ... "and making sure that people with a criminal history and a history of mental illness are not able to obtain these weapons of mass destruction."

Hogg criticized the media, stating that black students were not given a voice; he said that his school was 25% black but "the way we're covered doesn't reflect that."

In April 2018, Hogg initiated an effort to urge Speaker of the House Paul Ryan to bring a bill to the House of Representatives which required mandatory background checks for gun buyers; on Twitter, Hogg urged people to contact speaker Ryan and demand a vote on universal background checks.

Boycotts

Hogg called for students to boycott spring break in Florida and instead travel to Puerto Rico if gun control legislation was not passed by the Florida state government. After finishing high school, Hogg plans to take a gap year to campaign for politicians in favor of gun reform.

Hogg initiated a boycott of companies who advertise during The Ingraham Angle because Laura Ingraham made a Twitter joke about his college application. In response to the boycott, 24 advertisers left the show. Following the loss of advertisers, Ingraham tried to apologize to Hogg, but he rejected the apology. Ingraham was supported by Ted Nugent, Bill Maher, John Bowden, April 7, 2018, and The Hill. Alt-right commentator Vox Day criticized Ingraham for apologizing, citing Hogg's alleged left-wing methodology. After considering protests from progressive and left-wing employees, Fox News allowed Ingraham to continue her show. Ingraham's viewership increased in the weeks following the boycott, jumping from 2.5 million to 3 million.

Hogg also organized a boycott of Sinclair Broadcast Group TV host Jamie Allman, from station KDNL in St. Louis, who resigned and his show was canceled.

In May 2018, Hogg and a team of Never Again MSD activists held a "die-in" at a Publix supermarket, with a mass of activists blocking the store's floor in retaliation for the supermarket's financial support of pro-NRA gubernatorial candidate Adam Putnam. Facing additional boycott and other threats, Publix then stopped supporting Putnam.

Crisis actors

Shortly after the shooting, right-wing theorists accused Hogg and other students of being "crisis actors". Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram started removing posts that attack the students or accuse them of being actors.

External links

• David Hogg on Twitter
• David Hogg's channel on YouTube
• David Hogg at the Internet Movie Database
• On the Bill Maher show YouTube video
• CBS News Interview with Hogg and Gonzalez