Green Converse trainers selling out before March for Our Lives gun protests

Young child killed in Uvalde, Texas mass shooting identified by her signature green shoes to be honoured by protesters taking to the streets

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  People fill Pennsylvania Avenue during the March for Our Lives rally in support of gun control, Saturday, March 24, 2018, in Washington. AP

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  Students hold portraits of victims of Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shootings as people protest for tighter gun laws during the March For Our Lives rally / AFP

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  A crowd fills Pennsylvania Avenue during the 2018 March for Our Lives rally in Washington. AP

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  Miley Cyrus performs during the March for Our Lives rally in support of gun control in Washington, in 2018. AP

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  Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Emma Gonzalez listens with other students during the March for Our Lives Rally in Washington, in 2018. AFP

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  Workers set up for the March for Our Lives rally on the National Mall in Washington, on June 10, 2022. AP

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  Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney joins the New York City March For Our Lives demonstration in 2018. Reuters

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  A stage is set up for the March for Our Lives ahead of June 11. AP

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  The White House is in view as people prepare for the March for Our Lives rally. AP

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  David Hogg, Parkland school shooting survivor and co-founder of March for Our Lives, pauses as he speaks at a rally in Florida this June 2022. AP

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  Body bags are assembled on the National Mall by gun control activist group March For Our Lives on March 2022 in Washington. AFP

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  Common and Andra Day perform with the Cardinal Shehan Choir at a rally in Washington. Reuters

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  Jaclyn Corin, a student activist from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, holds hands with Yolanda Renee King, granddaughter of Martin Luther King Jr, at the 2018 March for Our Lives rally. AP

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  Demonstrators hold signs at the 2018 March for Our Lives rally in Chicago. AP

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  Jennifer Hudson performs during the March for Our Lives rally in Washington, in 2018. Reuters

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  A sign seen at a March for Our Lives rally in Connecticut in 2018. AFP

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  Actor Amy Schumer speaks during the Los Angeles March for Our Lives march in 2018. Reuters

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  Performer Ariana Grande sings during the March For Our Lives in Washington, in 2018. EPA

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  Demi Lovato performs "Skyscraper" during the "March for Our Lives" rally in support of gun control in Washington. AP

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  'Sex and the City's' Cynthia Nixon walks on Central Park West ahead of the March For Our Lives in New York, New York. Bloomberg

A wave of national protests calling for gun control is scheduled to take place on Saturday and supporters are scrambling to buy green-coloured Converse trainers due to their connection to a recent victim of a school shooting.

The first March for Our Lives took place in March 2018 after a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed.

The protest, organised by pupils who survived the shooting, brought millions of Americans across the country to the streets in a protest of the country's lax gun laws.

At a recent White House briefing, actor Matthew McConaughey tearfully spoke about 10-year-old Maite Yuleana Rodriguez, who was killed during the attack on her primary school in Uvalde, Texas.

Camila Alves McConaughey holds the green Converse trainers that were worn by Uvalde shooting victim Maite Yuleana Rodriguez. AP

“Maite wore green high-top Converse with a heart she had hand drawn on the right toe, because they represented her love of nature,” he said, as his wife, Camila, held the pair of trainers on her lap.

“These are the same green Converse on her feet that turned out to be the only clear evidence that could identify her after the shooting.”

“We searched online and called several Converse outlets as well as Journey’s shoe stores,” Cheyenne, a resident of Atlanta, Georgia, told The National.

People supporting gun safety measures and activists planning to participate in Saturday's gatherings are searching for green Converse trainers to honour Maite.

“All the outlets were sold out in-person and online and only three of the four stores in Atlanta had pairs available.”

The trainers are sold out on the official Converse website.

David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland high school shooting and one of the founders of March for Our Lives, tweeted a protest sign showing green Converse like Maite's, with the words: “We march for those who can't.”

“There’s been a run on green Converse all week,” a store employee at Journey’s at Cumberland Mall in Atlanta told The National.

“I think it has something to do with the mass shooting in Texas.”

A Seattle, Washington, Journey’s store location said it had sold 22 pairs since opening its doors on Friday.

Families across California turned out for the Los Angeles march in 2018. Holly Aguirre / The National

The 2018 march was attended by politicians and celebrities such as Sir Paul McCartney, James Franco, Laura Dern, Amy Schumer and then-senator Kamala Harris.

Saturday's march will take place in more than 300 US cities.