It is unfortunate and with despair that we again are compelled to write another statement condemning hate-filled violence in 21st Century America. This past weekend there was an attack on the LGBTQIA+ community in Club Q in Colorado Springs, where five people were murdered by a lone gunman in his early 20s; two men in their early 20s carrying weapons, one wearing a Nazi armband—thankfully intercepted in Penn Station by police—on their way to attack a synagogue in Manhattan; and in Cabo, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, a Black woman on vacation, Shanquella Robinson, 25, murdered, a possible victim of femicide.
Mobilization for Justice stands with the Jewish and LGBTQIA+ communities and unequivocally condemns these hates crimes and violence. We mourn the horrific—and preventable—loss of lives cut short in Colorado and in Mexico. We send our condolences to the families, friends, and communities dealing with unimaginable grief.
Incidents like these underscore our nation’s urgent and desperate need for far reaching gun control, as well as well-funded mental health care nation-wide. Ensuring that every American can access the services they need for their full wellness would make a measurable impact on the level of violence occurring in communities across the nation.
But mental health care alone is not enough to address systemic violence. The United States is not unique in its challenges with mental health. But it is quite unique in its availability of guns and its reluctance to check the spread of assault weapons. The status quo of yet another killing spree by young white men with military weaponry killing BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ people is absolutely unacceptable. This. Needs. To. Stop.
Members of the LGBTQIA community should not have to fear being murdered at a club, or anywhere. Believers—of any faith—should not have to fear being murdered at their place of worship, or anywhere. A woman going on vacation should not have to fear being murdered.
We stand with those calling for systemic change to fund mental health care, to address gun violence, to fight white supremacy, to secure justice for victims, and to prevent horrific massacres like those that are now occurring with unacceptable frequency throughout our nation. We will not allow ourselves to grow numb to this ongoing, senseless violence. We will continue to fight for a better nation and for justice.