Rally against gun violence draws crowd in Detroit
A crowd of people wearing vibrant red shirts of anti-gun violence groups gathered in front of downtown's iconic Spirit of Detroit statue on Sunday, in an effort to honor victims and to push gun reform laws.
People arrived under dark gray clouds for the 3 p.m. rally, which began with a moment of silence as attendees spent about a minute offering up the names of their lost ones.
Marcus Buckley ... Freddie Harvey ... Kyle North ... Scott Smith ... followed by others.
Gun violence survivors, relatives of victims, students and parents called out for change. They also carried signs "(Are our lives worth your guns?" and "Close the loopholes"), expressing frustrations in the wake of violence across America, such as the mass shootings earlier this month in El Paso and Dayton.
Detroit City Council President Pro Tem Mary Sheffield spoke about pushing Congress.
"I love coming here and rallying, but I'm tired. I'm not seeing change happening," said Sheffield. "This is about humanity and saving people's lives."
Following Sheffield was U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, who gave a fiery, intense speech sharing her personal gun violence story. Dingell has said that as a child she hid from her mentally unstable father, who owned a gun.
"I know what it's like," said Dingell. "I was that child hiding in a closet, scared to death that she was going to die and I've never gotten over it."
Out in the crowd listening was Detroit native Curtis Greene, who said he was shot in a parking lot at Saint Andrew's Hall in 2006.
"I had my whole check in my pocket," said Greene. "I didn't want to give up my money or my Cartier glasses and I fought and got shot twice in the stomach and lost six inches of my intestine."
Among other attendees were a Kalamazoo couple, Rick and Martha Omilian, who lost their daughter, Maggie, 20 years ago. She was attending Kalamazoo College at the time when she was shot and killed by her ex-boyfriend in a dorm room. He then immediately turned the gun on himself.
"I will keep fighting for 20 more years. ... They're aren't going to get rid of me," said Martha Omilian. "No mother needs to feel like how I do every single day."
As speakers continued to share stories and plea for change, there was a common message: They are not anti-gun, but anti-gun violence.
Members of Mom's Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and a student group with a similar name wore red shirts and made up the majority of the crowd, which filled much of the block known as Spirit Plaza in front of the statue.
Members said they don't want to infringe on the Second Amendment but want to push Congress to action on background checks and red-flag policies to reduce gun violence.
Mary Miller-Strobel of Berkley said she joined the mother's group after the 2018 shooting in Parkland, Florida, where 17 high school students were shot to death, but has been rallying since 2006 when she lost her brother to a firearm suicide.
Miller-Strobel said her brother mentioned that he was feeling suicidal.
"My father and I went to every gun store in my hometown and begged them not to sell my brother a firearm," she said. "But at that point there was no legal reason why he should not have been sold a firearm."
Yasmine Elkharssa and Ayah Alghurabi, both of Dearborn Heights, said they decided to attend the rally as first-timers because as two young Muslim-American women, they feel it is their duty to fight these issues.
"If we're staying silent and we're not discussing the these issues I think we're doing more harm than good," said Alghurabi.
"My sign says 'Why do we have to beg Congress to save our lives.' " said Elkharssa. "We need reform."
"I'm scared to die and I'm scared to go to school," said Alghurabi, who will be attending Wayne State in the fall. "At the back of my head I'm thinking, 'Am I going to die today?' "