Parkland survivor was praised for confronting Marco Rubio on gun control — he now regrets what he did

One of the survivors of the Parkland school massacre who was called a hero by the left for confronting Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) publicly on gun control now says that he regrets what he did.

Cameron Kasky joined other survivors of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to begin the gun control advocacy group March for Our Lives, but has since left the group and denounced some of his behavior during that time.

"I think it showed that sometimes how we feel about things can get in the way of our objective thinking," he said in an interview with BBC News.

Kasky specifically points to a CNN town hall event on gun control after the massacre where he was applauded for confronting Rubio.

"I'm sorry, I know I'm not supposed to do this," Kasky said at the time, "but I'm not going to listen to that. Senator Rubio, it's hard to look at you and not look down the barrel on an AR-15 and not look at [the Parkland mass murderer], but the point is: You're here and there are some people who are not."

The moment went instantly viral and Kasky was praised on the left for equating Rubio with the murderer.

But he now says that he regrets saying the murderer's name and he regrets blaming Rubio.

"I regretted saying the name of the shooter to Senator Rubio and telling him I can't look at him without seeing the shooter," Kasky said. "That's not true.

"In many ways my confrontation with Senator Rubio was very positive," he explained, "in a sense that it reminded a lot of people my age that politicians are just like anybody else - they are not these deities that you need to look up to as if they are our supreme leaders.

"But going about it," he added, "I did it in such a vitriolic way that I don't find it to have been very meaningful and productive."

Kasky says he suffered anxiety and depression because of the stress of living under the spotlight as a spokesperson for the gun control cause.

"If I vilify half the people in this country where is that going to bring me?" he asked.

Here's more about the Parkland massacre anniversary:

Parkland shooting: One year laterwww.youtube.com