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Hollywood stars and directors back student gun control rallies

Amal and George Clooney's $500,000 pledge was matched by Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg
Amal and George Clooney's $500,000 pledge was matched by Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg

Actor George Clooney and his wife Amal are donating $500,000 to support a march on Saturday by students demanding political action on gun control in the United States.

The 'March for Our Lives' rally in Washington is being organised in the wake of last week's mass school shooting in Florida.

The Clooneys have also said they will march alongside the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida who are organising the rally.

A 19-year-old former student, Nikolas Cruz, is accused of carrying out the shooting with a semi-automatic AR-15-style assault rifle at the school a week ago.

Cruz killed 14 students and three teachers in the attack.

Oprah Winfrey and Hollywood director Steven Spielberg have each announced that they will match the Clooneys' donation.

It was not immediately clear whether they would attend the march.

Ms Winfrey tweeted: "George and Amal, I couldn't agree with you more. I am joining forces with you and will match your $500,000 donation to 'March For Our Lives'."


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Film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg and his wife Marilyn also said they would match the $500,000 donation and march in Washington.

The 'March for Our Lives' event is one of several rallies being organised by students across the US in support of stronger gun laws, challenging politicians they say have failed to protect them.

Busloads of Florida students headed to the state capital Tallahassee yesterday to call for a ban on assault rifles.

Separately, the National Rifle Association has said it will wait to see the detail of President Trump's proposal to ban the sale of devices that make rifles fire like machine guns before commenting on it.

However, NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said that banning semi-automatic firearms and accessories had been shown time and time again not to prevent criminal activity and simply punished the law-abiding for the criminal acts of others.