An 18-year-old mass shooting survivor who is running for office in Houston and who temporarily went blind from the stress of campaigning was nearly stabbed by a knife-wielding thief at a gas station last week.
Marcel McClinton, 18, is the first teen member of the March for Our Lives pro-gun control movement to run for government office.
McClinton told BuzzFeed News that the survivors of the Parkland, Florida massacre on Valentine’s Day of last year ‘inspired the hell out of me.’
He is now running to unseat a right-leaning incumbent, Michael Kubosh, for an at-large seat on the Houston City Council. The election is scheduled for November 5.
Marcel McClinton, 18, is running for an at-large seat on the Houston City Council
McClinton is a bi-racial son of a white German woman and an African American Army officer from Louisiana.
He and his older sister, Jasmin, were raised mostly by their mother, who drove a school bus for a living.
McClinton grew up politically active as a supporter of the Republican Party. In 2015, he attended a rally for then-candidate Donald Trump.
‘You’re not Texan if you’re not a Republican,’ he believed at the time.
But something began to change after Memorial Day in 2016.
While McClinton was at Sunday school teaching young children at a Houston church, a gunman opened fire at a nearby car wash, killing one person and wounding six others.
McClinton and his mother sheltered inside the church as the gunman pulled the trigger on an AR-15 assault weapon.
For an hour, McClinton and his mother tried to keep the kids calm as the shooting unfolded.
After the harrowing incident, McClinton moved on.
He is seen center with his mother (right) and his sister, Jasmin (left), after his graduation from high school
During the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, he interned for Senator Ted Cruz, who would go on to lose the nomination to Trump.
By September of 2016, he was a Trump backer, telling the Houston Chronicle: ‘When I get out of high school, what I really want is job security, keeping the country safe and a good economy and Hillary Clinton isn’t offering any of those things.
‘Security in every aspect of the country.’
But Trump’s proposed Muslim ban as well as seeing the effects of what the AR-15 does to people led him to re-evaluate his pro-Republican beliefs.
The shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland that left 17 people dead was the last straw.
McClinton watched as the survivors rallied millions around the country to their message of stricter gun laws.
McClinton has appeared at rallies alongside former House Rep. Beto O’Rourke (right)
‘What shaped my politics was the Parkland shooting,” said McClinton. ‘It was watching people my age on TV after the most traumatic experience of their life demanding f****** change.
‘They reminded me of me.’
McClinton says that he has taken inspiration from former House Rep. Beto O’Rourke, the Texas Democrat who nearly upset Cruz in the 2018 U.S. Senate election.
‘I’m not a fan of any elected official, except Beto,’ said McClinton.
The two have appeared together at rallies. McClinton said it was O’Rourke who convinced him to run for public office.
In a phone conversation held weeks after O’Rourke lost to Cruz, the former congressman told McClinton: ‘Y’all need to run, do something now.
‘If you feel a calling to do so, go pursue it.’
To prepare for his campaign, McClinton had to miss classes during senior year at Stratford High School.
The school allowed for ‘special circumstances’ that ‘not a lot of people were given,’ according to one of his teachers, Christine Walker.
After graduating, he was able to focus entirely on the campaign when he quit his part-time job at Starbucks.
But his campaign has been a bumpy ride.
On September 26, he drove him at night after a busy day of rallying support in the community.
McClinton decided to stop at a Starbucks and order an iced latte. It was there that he heard shouts for help coming from outside.
When he approached to help a man at a gas station next door, a thief who had just stolen a beer lunged at him with a knife.
The thief continued swinging the knife at McClinton, whose face was just inches away from the blade.
McClinton uploaded video on social media showing how he helped chase a would-be assailant and thief who stole beer from a Houston gas station on September 26
On September 26, McClinton was nearly stabbed by a thief who stole beer from a local gas station in Houston. McClinton called police and helped track down the thief (seen above)
McClinton dialed 911 during the attempted attack. He then chased the knife-wielding would-be assailant into the bushes across the street.
A crowd of onlookers who had gathered appeared unaware that he was armed with a knife.
‘I didn’t want him to go on a cutting spree,’ said McClinton.
‘And if he had a gun, we’d be dead.’
McClinton said he was shaked by the incident.
‘Can’t put it into words,’ he told BuzzFeed News. ‘This has f***** me up.’
The suspect was charged by Houston Police with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated robbery.
McClinton tried to campaign the next day, but called it off after he realized he had not yet processed what had taken place the night before.
‘It’s been tougher than the shooting was,’ he said.
A few days later, he got back on the campaign trail.
The stress of the experience – designing campaign flyers, driving around town, canvassing – began to take its toll.
While driving around a neighborhood near his house, he noticed his vision started blurring.
McClinton says he temporarily went blind because of the stress of campaigning. He is seen above meeting a prospective voter
Then he couldn’t see anything.
Panicked, he pulled the car over and rolled down the windows, trying to get fresh air.
Two minutes later, his vision returned. But then it blurred again, prompting him to visit a doctor.
The eye doctor told him that the intense stress of campaigning coupled with not eating caused him to go temporarily blind.
McClinton says he knows he needs to slow down, but there are more important things to accomplish.
‘Pick your focus: your mental health or the campaign you’ve been running for months?’ asked McClinton.
‘It’s definitely the campaign.’
McClinton’s story has even inspired O’Rourke.
‘I have seen [McClinton’s] leadership, his determination and his ability to drive change, and I know we’ll all continue to see that in everything he chooses to do,’ said O’Rourke.
‘I’m grateful that he’s running and know that he’ll be an excellent leader for Houston on the city council.’
When told about O’Rourke’s comments, McClinton said: ‘That’s so beautiful. It brought a little tear to my eye.’