Today is the #MarchforourLives event. It is ostensibly student-led and theoretically against violence and for common sense, and hypothetically regarding American policy on Americans owning guns in America.

So naturally, there are events in … London. And Amsterdam. And Copenhagen. And Paris.

From the #MarchForOurLives protest in London 👇https://t.co/U5iiSrGEQu

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) March 24, 2018

I’m here outside the US Embassy in London for #MarchForOurLives for @BuzzFeedNews – good sized crowd already here. And here come the great signs. Becca Leland, 18, came up for Brighton for today — pic.twitter.com/61MbZxpjDI

— Rose Troup Buchanan (@rose_catb) March 24, 2018

#marchforourlives Amsterdam https://t.co/wd9qbvRIhj

— Liz Holcomb 🗽 (@LizHolcomb) March 24, 2018

https://twitter.com/anormanj6/status/977541479756451840

wut.

Why? Because although a component of this march is parents and students genuinely coming out to major cities here in the United States in order to express their opinion, as is their right, another component of it that this is, like any other leftist protest, an excuse to come out and protest everything and everyone that isn’t a left-wing ideologue.

The truth is that a lot of organizations have their hands (and fundraising hopes) wrapped up in this major media blitz. And while the media, CNN in particular, will spend most of the day reporting on the marches as if they’re a spontaneous outcry from kids who just want to feel safe, it is also a highly organized, multi-organization leftist spectacle.

On the ground there will be talk of “common sense” gun laws, but there will be signs about gun confiscation. There will be lip service on CNN and MSNBC about not hating gun owners, but there will be protest chants about gun owners loving dead kids.

There is the event you see on TV, and the one that is actually taking place.

And that’s why there are the protests abroad. Just look:

All the way from Copenhagen, Denmark…we hear you & we stand with you. #GUNCONTROLNOW #MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/92rwa9UFpJ

— emuh (@emuh_jpg) March 24, 2018

#MarchForOurLives Amsterdam! If you own a gun, get a life!! Before you take one. pic.twitter.com/jzB90Fljic

— Martin van Elmpt (@martinvanelmpt) March 24, 2018

If you own a gun you’ll take a life. That’s the message in Amsterdam. You see?

Again, there are plenty of American families coming out today, genuine in the stated point of the march. They want to honor the kids who died and prevent future deaths. They mean it in good faith and really don’t think you are a murderer just for owning a gun or being a member of the NRA. Good for them for exercising their rights. I don’t have to agree with their ideas to believe in the power of a march or the importance of protecting children.

But make no mistake, the others are out in force, too. You may not see them on CNN, but it matters that you know they are there. Here and abroad.