For Immediate Release:
May 24, 2022
For More Information:
Adam Garber, CeaseFire PA Executive Director, (267) 515-1220, adam@ceasefirepa.org
Josh Fleitman, CeaseFirePA Western PA Manager, (412) 426-5148, josh.fleitman@ceasefirepa.org
MEDIA RELEASE
Uvalde, Buffalo, York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh…Preventable Disasters Continue to End Lives & Traumatize Communities
Philadelphia — Today, 19 children and two teachers were killed in Uvalde, Texas in a 90% Hispanic school. It was the 27th school shooting and the 212th mass shooting so far in the 144 days of 2022. Eleven days ago, 10 were murdered at a Black supermarket. In those 11 days, an estimated 22 Pennsylvanians were murdered with firearms. Countless more were injured.
Adam Garber, CeaseFirePA Action’s Executive Director, issued the following statement:
“After each shooting, I’m asked: ‘are you surprised?’ No. Because the causes are the same. A deadly refusal to enact common sense laws. A decision to ignore the simple facts: no other developed country sees this level of violence. Gun violence prevention laws save lives.”
“We are living in a slow-moving massacre. Sometimes, lives hemorrhage out in an hour at Robb Elementary School or a supermarket in Buffalo. Other weeks, the lifeblood of our nation slowly drains in shooting after shooting that receive little to no media attention. The two people murdered daily in PA on average, 110 a day across the country. Shootings in York, Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh just in the last week are on my mind right now.”
“We want to be free. The freedom of not living in fear of a gunman stalking our kids, to go grocery shopping and play in parks, to worship without security guards at the door, and to learn without metal detectors. We want a life free from gun violence, because everyone deserves to be safe.”
Reverend Adan Mariena, CeaseFirePA Action Board Member, who was raised in Texas and has family near Uvalde, said:
“Our government continues to contribute to the building of monuments – monuments to the gun violence crisis. These monuments are drenched with the sacrificial blood of our children. Elected officials who worship guns over life should have their names on the plaques of these monuments. Today, it was a community in Texas, the state where I lived my formative years. That Texas community is mostly Latino, just like the North Philadelphia community where I live today. But this devastation knows no geography, color, or creed. Tomorrow, it might be your community, your children. Tomorrow, you may have monuments that are drenched with innocent blood in your community. Let us stop the bloodshed and elect people into office who believe they have an obligation to end this crisis above all else.”
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As the Commonwealth’s leading gun violence prevention organization, CeaseFirePA Action works to ensure everyone can live a life free from gun violence. We organize with communities closest to the issue, hold those in power accountable, and maximize the strengths of every member in our broad coalition.
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