Ryan Deitsch (born November 30, 1999) is an American student activist against

gun violence Gun-related violence is violence against a person committed with the use of a firearm to inflict a gunshot wound. Gun violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable ...

, and a survivor of the Parkland massacre. He is a founding member of the

Never Again MSD Never Again MSD is an American student-led political action committee for gun control that advocates for tighter regulations to prevent gun violence. The organization, also known by the Twitter hashtags #NeverAgain, and #EnoughIsEnough, was f ...

movement.

Early life and education

Ryan Deitsch was born on November 30, 1999, into a

Jewish family Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. He is the younger brother of filmmaker Matt Deitsch. He started attending

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is a State school, public Secondary school, high school in Parkland, Florida, United States. Established in 1990 as part of the Broward County Public Schools district and named after the writer Marjory Stonem ...

in 2014 and graduated in 2018. After taking a gap year to conduct gun violence prevention activism, he began attending

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Deitsch majored in International Service focusing on U.S. Foreign Policy Toward Latin America and human rights; he graduated December 2022.

Stoneman Douglas High School shooting

Deitsch filmed the active Stoneman Douglas High School massacre from inside the school, which occurred on his senior year there, and was saved as he hid with other students in a closet during the event. Deitsch has criticized the media for sensationalizing shooters, and has encouraged supporters to be a part of protests and marches. On February 21, 2018, he was a part of a

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

with lawmakers, asking senator

Marco Rubio Marco Antonio Rubio (; born May 28, 1971) is an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat serving since 2025 as the 72nd United States Secretary of State, United States secretary of state. A member of the Republican Party (United States) , Rep ...

the question, "Why do we have to march ... to save innocent lives?" Deitsch was featured in a ''

Harvard Political Review The ''Harvard Political Review'' is a quarterly, nonpartisan American magazine and website on politics and public policy founded in 1969 at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It covers domestic and international affairs and politica ...

'' interview, along with

Cameron Kasky Cameron Marley Kasky (born November 11, 2000) is an American activist and advocate against gun violence who co-founded the student-led gun violence prevention advocacy group Never Again MSD. He is notable for helping to organize the March for ...

, and

David Hogg David Miles Hogg (born April 12, 2000) is an American gun violence in the United States, gun control activist who served as a co-vice chair of the Democratic National Committee from February to June 2025. He rose to prominence during the 2018 ...

References

External links

Ryan Deitsch
on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deitsch, Ryan Parkland high school shooting activists Living people 1999 births American gun control activists Jewish American activists People from Florida Place of birth missing (living people) Jewish American activists for Palestinian solidarity