Judy Broward tries to go to as many vigils as she can after a mass shooting.
The 70-year-old Gainesville resident was one of about 50 people who attended a vigil in front of Gainesville City Hall Monday night. Broward stood with her arm around her friend’s shoulder as she held a lit candle to honor the victims of the Jacksonville mass shooting.
A gunman killed two men, Elijah Clayton, 22, of Woodland Hills, California, and Taylor Robertson, 28, of Giles, West Virginia, and injured 11 others Sunday. The shooting happened at the Jacksonville Landing during a Madden 19 video game tournament, according to Alligator archives.
Gun violence hits Broward close to home, she said. Her son Brett died from a gun-related suicide about 15 years ago. Vigils help people recognize the lives lost by gun violence and their families, Broward said.
“I didn’t die, my son died,” Broward said. “And my life was changed forever.”
Nine Gainesville activists and politicians, including Mayor Lauren Poe, spoke during the vigil, which was organized by the Alachua County branch of Moms Demand Action, an anti-gun violence advocacy group.
Pastor Larry Green of the Westminster Presbyterian Church lead the vigil in prayer before singing “Amazing Grace” with the crowd.
The local Moms Demand Action group did not invite politicians running for office to speak because it wanted to keep the focus on gun violence prevention instead of campaign promises, said Margaret Hamer, a group leader. Senator Keith Perry, who is running for re-election, attended the vigil but did not speak.
Alachua County Commissioner Ken Cornell spoke about calling his son Connor, who lives in Jacksonville, when he heard about the shooting. He was relieved to find out he was safe.
“It was scary,” Cornell said after the vigil. “He’s my son. He’s my winning lottery ticket.”
Gainesville City Commissioners Harvey Ward, David Arreola and Adrian Hayes-Santos called for tighter gun control and encouraged residents to vote Tuesday and in November.
“Every single time we have a chance to vote, we have a change to save lives in the future,” Arreola said.
Jovanna Liuzzo, a 17-year-old Eastside High School senior and leader of Students Demand Action, was the vigil’s youngest speaker.
Liuzzo said she became politically active after the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, which killed 17 people.
Although Liuzzo cannot vote yet, she said she hopes young people can make their voices heard.
“We need people fighting the good fight,” she said.
Contact Amanda Rosa at arosa@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @AmandaNicRosa
About 50 Gainesville residents and elected officials gathered to honor the victims of Sunday's mass shooting in Jacksonville
