The clip from CNN is 26 seconds but it crystallizes the whole March for our Lives today. Paul McCartney on Central Park West tells the CNN reporter “One of my best friends was killed in gun violence right around here so it’s important to me.”
McCartney is of course referring to the murder of John Lennon on December 8, 1980 in front of the Dakota apartment house by Mark David Chapman. That’s almost 38 years ago, it’s one of the most chilling examples of a mentally ill person who was able to secure a gun.
Paul and wife Nancy wore matching t shirts that read “We Can End Gun Violence.”
Paul was never the anti-anything marcher in the 60s. It was all John and Yoko. But this was an incredible grace note for him, and moved the message in new ways. I’m sure Yoko, just a few blocks away, must have appreciated the gesture.