WASHINGTON — Activists held a vigil Thursday night in front of the White House to remember the recent victims of mass shootings in the United States.
Over the weekend, two mass shootings - one in El Paso, Tex. and another in Dayton, Ohio - left more than 30 people dead. Another shooting, in Gilroy, Calif. at a garlic festival, killed three people.
Thursday night at 7 p.m., local high school students organized a candlelight vigil at Lafayette Park in front of the White House.
Protesters spoke and read poems in memory of the recent lives lost.
"We're here right now and they're not," one activist said. "And that's not fair."
Another speaker said she is originally from Dayton.
"Nine people," she shouted. "Nine sisters, brothers, mothers and fathers taken from this earth."
She asked people to not forget Dayton.
" So many people before this have died...only for the world to move on," she said. "I will not allow this to happen to Dayton."
She read the names of the recent victims aloud.
"I love Dayton and I love my country but I am ashamed," she said. "I am ashamed that we stop talking about these tragic acts as soon as they happen... and focus on something lighter, something happier. The families of the victims do not have that option, so neither should we."
WUSA9 crews at the vigil estimated about 200 people attended.