'Enough is enough': Houston vigils honoring El Paso victims call for action

Walmart employees comfort one another after an active shooter opened fire at the store in El Paso, Texas, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019. Walmart employees comfort one another after an active shooter opened fire at the store in El Paso, Texas, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019. Photo: Mark Lambie, Associated Press Photo: Mark Lambie, Associated Press Image 1 of / 44 Caption Close 'Enough is enough': Houston vigils honoring El Paso victims call for action 1 / 44 Back to Gallery

A Houston vigil honoring the victims of the mass shooting in El Paso opened with a gospel song emphasizing humanity's interconnectedness. After the final refrain, "I need you to survive," Congresswoman Sheila Jackson took the podium.

"We should be attentive" to white supremacist propaganda, Jackson said. "We need each other to survive."

"Enough is enough," said Mayor Sylvester Turner. "Inaction will not stop the killing. At some point we need to say, 'Has America reached a tipping point where action will take place?'"

It was the first of two Houston vigils honoring the victims of the mass shooting in El Paso and Dayton planned for Sunday evening. Turner said the Montrose bridges would be lit up in orange Sunday evening to promote gun violence awareness.

"We are truly saddened and angered by this act of hate," said Cesar Espinosa, the director of Fiel, the immigration rights nonprofit hosting the vigil at 4 p.m. at 1919 Smith St. "We must change this dynamic immediately before others also get inspired to commit such heinous acts."

The shootings in El Paso and Dayton killed 29 people and injured dozens more. Shortly before the gunman in El Paso opened fire in a Walmart, he posted an anti-immigrant manifesto decrying a "Hispanic invasion of Texas."

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo pushed back on the racist rhetoric by sharing his own experience as an immigrant from Cuba. "The greatest gift given to my family was the gift of freedom," he said. "We are not crooks."

On HoustonChronicle.com: Officials investigate anti-immigrant manifesto after El Paso rampage

March for Our Lives, a student-led organization supporting legislation to curb gun violence, is also holding a vigil on Sunday. People will remember the victims from 6 to 7 p.m. at St. Marks United Methodist Church at 600 Pecore St.

"In times filled with hate, take a step toward healing with love and support," tweeted the Houston chapter of March for Our Lives. "Stand with our brothers and sisters in El Paso in their time of pain as we remember those lives lost and wish for the full & swift recovery of the injured."

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