San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Rally after death of young girl urges healing, end to gun violence
Event held outside E. Side church that also saw a shooting
Concerned residents and community leaders didn’t let the weather stop them from turning out Saturday to call for healing and a stop to gun violence.
“Today’s rally is about bringing unity, awareness and love,” said Rosa L. Wilson, bishop of the East Side church where the STOP-in-the-Name-of-Love Rally was held. “I want a transformation of the mind and the heart, that’s what this movement is all about.”
Organizers scheduled the rally in the wake of the shooting death of 6-year-old Saryah Perez last Sunday on the West Side. The rally took place outside Greater Faith Institutional Church, where a 6-year-old boy was struck in the shoulder by gunfire Feb. 7, Super Bowl Sunday.
A steady rain fell as more than 60 people gathered under tents and umbrellas outside the church on Martin Luther King Drive to listen to speakers taking part in the rally, hosted by Bexar County Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and the church.
Wilson said the February gang-related shooting took away the innocence of the children who were at church that day.
STOP stands for Stop Terrorizing/Traumatizing Our People.
District 2 Councilwoman Jada Andrews-Sullivan and San Antonio Police Chief William McManus were among those who spoke out against gun violence.
Sullivan said that through the ups and downs that have taken place in District 2, the community always comes together.
“We know every time we march along this street, we march in love and unity,” she said. Greater Faith holds worship services for marchers on the MLK March route.
“Now is the time that we are becoming the change that we want to see, and it starts with this unified effort.”
McManus stood beside a trio who patrol the East Side: San Antonio Fear Free Environment
(SAFFE) officers Michael Fischer, Justin Ramirez and Meredith Rodriguez.
He said unofficial numbers show that violent crime had dropped in the first quarter of the year. However, he said, in many cases people are too quick to reach for a gun.
“It seems that there’s no fear of consequence,” McManus said, “or there’s no caring about what the consequence is.”
An audience member shouted, “Amen!”
When McManus asked how many people need to be arrested to stop the violence, Rodney Brown, a lead organizer with the Texas Organizing Project yelled, “You can’t arrest yourself out of a problem.”
Brown’s colleague, Chelsie Alvarado, said she came to talk from the community’s perspective about minor arrests. She said that after meeting with community members about the issue, TOP members had come up with a possible solution — instituting a cite and release program.
Alvarado said that under the plan, when an officer pulls a resident over for a low-level offense, a citation would be given in lieu of being arrested. She said the action would give an opportunity for community service or taking courses rather than having an arrest record.
Cori Ferraro, a volunteer with Moms Demand Action, said that after hearing about the February shooting, the group reached out to Wilson to offer their help.
She also thanked the bishop for hosting the rally against gun violence.
“Gun violence continues to plague our city and our families every single day,” Ferraro said. “It’s so important that we join together and come up with best solutions to prevent gun violence and make San Antonio a safer place for everybody.”