They mourned to motivate change.
More than a hundred people assembled in Borough Hall Plaza on Tuesday to grieve the victims of Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas, and local leaders who led the vigil demanded action to stop similar tragedies from happening again.
“We need to be very clear that now is the time for everyday Americans to raise their voices, and come together to remove the threat of guns and violence from this country,” said Borough President Adams. “Americans should not have to gamble with their lives by merely being in public view.”
The beep joined a crowd of elected officials, religious leaders, and anti-gun activists who held candles to remember the people killed and injured when a shooter opened fire on the audience at an open-air country-music concert from inside his hotel room on the Las Vegas strip. At least 59 people were killed and around 500 were hurt in the attack, which was one of the deadliest mass shootings in the country, according to reports.
Crowd members also clutched signs displaying the number of lives lost in other shootings — including those in Orlando, San Bernardino, Sandy Hook, and at Virginia Tech.
Speakers called for legislative reform, reiterating how incidents of firearm violence have become a part of everyday life, according to a spokesman for the borough president.
“Everyone emphasized the absurdity of this continuing to happen every single day in America,” said Eugene Resnick.
And one activist pleaded for pols to pass much-needed legislation that will finally put an end to violence caused by guns.
“It’s insane our legislators will not take steps to stop these shootings,” said Jaime Pessin, a Boerum Hill resident and member of gun-violence-prevention group Moms Demand Action, which partnered with the beep to host the vigil. “We have a public health crisis and there are solutions to this problem.”
