In Florida, a judge has sentenced Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Cruz killed 17 people in a 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Ahead of Wednesday’s sentencing, survivors and victims’ families were given an opportunity to confront Cruz directly in the courtroom. This is Samantha Fuentes, a former classmate of Cruz and a survivor of the massacre. 

Samantha Fuentes: “You were a hateful bigot with an AR-15 and a god complex. You still are, minus the gun. You might have everyone else fooled, but not me, because this is personal. Racism is not a mental illness. Perfectly planned and articulated manifestos and plans are not characteristics of the sickly or the mentally unhinged.”

Samantha Fuentes and other survivors of the attack have become prominent gun control advocates.