El Paso marchers urge gun-law changes
EL PASO, Texas — More than 100 people marched Saturday through the Texas border city of El Paso, denouncing racism and calling for stronger gun laws one week after 22 people were killed in a shooting that authorities say was carried out by a man targeting Mexicans.
Chanting “gun reform now,” “El Paso strong” and in Spanish, “here we are and we are not leaving,” the marchers included Hispanic, white and black people dressed in white to symbolize peace and carrying 22 white wooden crosses to represent the victims of the shooting at an El Paso Walmart.
The man charged with capital murder in the attack, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius told investigators he targeted Mexicans at the store with an AK-47 rifle, an El Paso detective said in an arrest affidavit. Federal prosecutors have said they’re weighing hate-crime charges.
Jessica Coca Garcia, who was among those wounded in the shooting, spoke to people gathered at the League of United Latin American Citizens’ “March for a United America.”
“Racism is something I always wanted to think didn’t exist. Obviously, it does,” Coca Garcia said after rising from a wheelchair. Bandages covered gunshot wounds in her leg.
“I love you, El Paso,” she said, her voice cracking. “This is where I’m going to stay.”
Former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, also attended and spoke to the crowd.
Meanwhile, funerals were held Saturday for some of the victims of the shooting in El Paso and a shooting in Dayton, Ohio, where a gunman killed nine people in a popular nightlife area less than 24 hours after the Texas killings.
Derrick Fudge, 57, who died in the arms of his son after the shooting in Ohio was remembered as a loving family man who painted houses and loved to fish and cook.
Hundreds of mourners, including Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, attended Fudge’s funeral at St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Springfield, Ohio, the Dayton Daily News reported.
Fudge’s son, Dion Green, said his father spoke often of his willingness to die for him. Green previously told the Springfield News-Sun he believes his father protected him from being killed. Green said Saturday that his father was a great person who was always there to help when needed.
Every seat was filled and the hallways were lined with mourners in Washington, Pa., at the service for 25-year-old Nicholas Cumer, a graduate student in the master’s program for cancer care at Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pa., who was killed in Dayton.
“He was just infectious. He had a heart bigger than his chest,” said pastor Brian Greenleaf of Washington Alliance Church after officiating the service.
Burial services for Saeed Saleh, 38, were held Saturday morning in Dayton, according to the Daily News. Saleh, who was originally from Eritrea and recently immigrated to the U.S., was remembered as a “humble and quiet person” by a spokesman for the family.
In El Paso, a requiem Mass was offered for 15-year-old Javier Amir Rodriguez, a high school sophomore and avid soccer player who was at the Walmart with his uncle when he was killed.
Burial was also scheduled for Jordan Anchondo, who died shielding her infant son from gunfire. Her 2-monthold son, who was treated for broken bones, was orphaned after Jordan and her husband, Andre, were killed.