WEBVTT 1 00:00:03.880 --> 00:00:07.800 So we're right outside the walmart where the shooting happened 2 00:00:07.840 --> 00:00:09.240 on August third in twenty nineteen. 3 00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:13.240 This is Hasus Leo Nardos, Algado, Ramos. 4 00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:17.599 This is always a place that has a very deep meaning, 5 00:00:17.840 --> 00:00:20.440 that has very awful memories. 6 00:00:21.400 --> 00:00:24.840 In August twenty nineteen, when he was sixteen years old, 7 00:00:25.200 --> 00:00:29.240 an armed gunman traveled hundreds of miles across Texas to 8 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:33.240 his Zeus's hometown of El Paso. The gunman had one 9 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:37.879 aim to kill Latinos because he believed there was an 10 00:00:37.960 --> 00:00:43.600 invasion on the border. That day, August third, five years ago, 11 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:47.839 the gunman walked into this walmart and murdered twenty three 12 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:50.400 people with a semi automatic rifle. 13 00:00:51.640 --> 00:00:54.560 I think for many of us that saw the graphic images, 14 00:00:54.840 --> 00:00:57.840 your mind just starts thinking about where so and so 15 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:00.880 could it have been laid. This used to be Hasus's 16 00:01:00.920 --> 00:01:05.720 local grocery store. He has never returned here until today. 17 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:09.240 You feel like that day when we were all getting 18 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:12.240 those news and we all felt uneasy and we felt 19 00:01:12.280 --> 00:01:14.160 like we had to watch our backs, or even just 20 00:01:14.200 --> 00:01:17.080 the vague memory of it all playing now, I think 21 00:01:17.160 --> 00:01:18.959 is very difficult for us to process. 22 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:22.400 Hasus didn't personally know anyone who was killed or hurt 23 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:25.600 during the mass shooting, but as a member of the community, 24 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:28.920 the tragedy had a lingering impact on him. 25 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:32.600 They reopened and they renovated everything in the walmart after 26 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:37.120 the shooting, and they built this memorial for the victims. 27 00:01:37.319 --> 00:01:39.600 Were staring at the plaque that has the name of 28 00:01:39.640 --> 00:01:42.120 the twenty three people who were killed at the walmart. 29 00:01:42.600 --> 00:01:44.520 The majority of them were Latino. 30 00:01:44.880 --> 00:01:48.400 It has the names of Arturo Navidez, who is described 31 00:01:48.440 --> 00:01:52.960 as an amazing grandfather. It has the names of the 32 00:01:52.960 --> 00:01:56.440 Ancondo's parents who died protecting their children. 33 00:01:57.640 --> 00:02:01.160 Near the plaque, there's a thirty foot tam on dedicated 34 00:02:01.160 --> 00:02:04.880 to the victims. It's cylinder sand colored and it shoots 35 00:02:04.960 --> 00:02:07.800 up into the sky. It also lights up at night. 36 00:02:08.760 --> 00:02:11.760 We look out into the parking lot and it's busy today. 37 00:02:12.360 --> 00:02:15.680 Life is going on as usual. I can see people 38 00:02:15.720 --> 00:02:19.040 pushing their shopping carts into the store. Others are trying 39 00:02:19.080 --> 00:02:21.920 to find a spot to park, and I hear laughter nearby. 40 00:02:22.760 --> 00:02:27.120 It's sad, right, It's sad that things play out as normal, 41 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:32.720 things go back to how they were, and the reality 42 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:35.000 is that there has been no change ever since. 43 00:02:35.040 --> 00:02:36.440 It has happened, and at. 44 00:02:36.360 --> 00:02:38.080 That time we thought that it Basa was going to 45 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:39.600 be the last one, that it Basa was going to 46 00:02:39.639 --> 00:02:43.040 be that pivotal moment for lawmakers to get out of 47 00:02:43.080 --> 00:02:46.880 their reaction and do something right for these twenty three people, 48 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:48.400 for the victims, for their families. 49 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:54.280 That day didn't just impact the victims, It changed Hissus's 50 00:02:54.360 --> 00:02:58.440 life and the lives of so many other Opassoans and 51 00:02:58.480 --> 00:03:03.000 people like Hissus trying to do something with that pain, advocate, 52 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:09.839 mobilize and create some real change. 53 00:03:16.480 --> 00:03:20.320 From Futuro Media and PRX, It's Latino USA. I'm Maria 54 00:03:20.440 --> 00:03:26.080 Noojosa today, Guns, Latinos, activism and the November twenty twenty 55 00:03:26.120 --> 00:03:29.560 four presidential election. This story is part of our special 56 00:03:29.600 --> 00:03:39.560 election coverage, The Latino Factor How We Vote Latino USA. 57 00:03:39.640 --> 00:03:43.440 Producer Rinaldo Leanos Junior and I teamed up to report 58 00:03:43.640 --> 00:03:44.760 this episode today. 59 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:48.240 Hey Ray, Hey Maria. Yes, that's right. We went to 60 00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:51.960 the site of two recent mass shootings that primarily targeted 61 00:03:52.040 --> 00:03:56.360 Latinos and Latinas. I traveled to El Paso and I went. 62 00:03:56.280 --> 00:03:59.440 Back to Uvalde to follow up on our past reporting 63 00:03:59.560 --> 00:04:02.920 and see how the communities there are doing and you know, Ray, 64 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:07.520 this is a topic that obviously matters to all Americans 65 00:04:07.960 --> 00:04:11.440 and especially for Latinos and Latinas. So we're getting into 66 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:12.760 it in this election cycle. 67 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:17.080 Absolutely for Latinos and Latinas, the right to bear arms, 68 00:04:17.160 --> 00:04:18.440 you know, it carries a lot of weight. 69 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:21.160 I mean, it is a known fact that gun violence 70 00:04:21.400 --> 00:04:26.920 disproportionately impacts our community. And that's beyond mass shootings. It 71 00:04:26.960 --> 00:04:32.360 can include deaths by suicide, gang violence, and domestic violence, 72 00:04:32.640 --> 00:04:35.200 all having to do with guns. 73 00:04:37.160 --> 00:04:40.599 The Center for American Progress reported that Hispanics are twice 74 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:43.720 as likely to die by gun homicides when compared to 75 00:04:43.800 --> 00:04:45.280 their white counterparts. 76 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:50.479 And just this year, the US Surgeon General declared gun 77 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:55.040 violence a public health crisis. That's the first time this 78 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:58.640 has happened. And of course we can't talk about guns 79 00:04:58.680 --> 00:05:03.360 and about the upcoming presidential election without mentioning that last month, 80 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:07.080 an ar style rifle was used to try and assassinate 81 00:05:07.400 --> 00:05:11.239 former President Donald Trump at one of his rallies. Now, 82 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:14.719 I've been reporting on this issue of gun violence, frankly 83 00:05:15.160 --> 00:05:19.040 for decades, and I remember covering one of the very 84 00:05:19.240 --> 00:05:24.000 first major mass shootings in our country. It was Columbine 85 00:05:24.120 --> 00:05:28.919 in Colorado, a story that made so many headlines. But 86 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:32.000 now it's been twenty five years since that shooting, and 87 00:05:32.040 --> 00:05:38.560 there's been a lot more mass shootings since then. And 88 00:05:38.880 --> 00:05:41.800 I know Ray that you've done some reporting specifically about 89 00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:44.719 this too. You reported about the Pulse nightclub shooting in 90 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:45.640 twenty sixteen. 91 00:05:46.120 --> 00:05:47.000 We are on. 92 00:05:51.800 --> 00:05:56.200 Hold land, you know, that's right, Maria, and I like 93 00:05:56.279 --> 00:05:59.400 you also covered the El Paso shooting when it first happened, 94 00:06:00.080 --> 00:06:02.600 ported on it in the Rio Grand Valley of South Texas, 95 00:06:02.760 --> 00:06:05.599 which is a different part of the border, but people 96 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:08.919 there were also mourning, and they were also on edge. 97 00:06:09.240 --> 00:06:12.039 I said, oh my god, maybe they're gonna come over here, 98 00:06:12.080 --> 00:06:16.440 because if they're targeting Latinos, Ispanos, Mexicans, maybe they're gonna 99 00:06:16.440 --> 00:06:17.040 come over here. 100 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:20.320 But you know, Ray, at the same time, it's something 101 00:06:20.360 --> 00:06:23.360 that I find pretty interesting is that Latinos and Latinas 102 00:06:23.400 --> 00:06:27.640 also have a growing interest in guns, i e. In 103 00:06:27.800 --> 00:06:31.720 owning guns. In twenty twenty, as a matter of fact, 104 00:06:31.760 --> 00:06:36.480 there was a fifty percent increase in firearm purchases by 105 00:06:36.760 --> 00:06:39.000 Latine people across the country. 106 00:06:39.880 --> 00:06:42.160 In fact, many people of color had said that they 107 00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:45.760 are getting weapons to protect themselves and their families. But 108 00:06:45.839 --> 00:06:49.400 aside from that, there's also this draw of gun culture 109 00:06:49.720 --> 00:06:52.599 and the use of guns as a recreational hobby. 110 00:06:53.200 --> 00:06:56.160 And I remember when we were first reporting about Uvalde 111 00:06:56.240 --> 00:06:58.320 in twenty twenty two, one of the things that stood 112 00:06:58.320 --> 00:07:01.680 out was that you were here from families who wanted 113 00:07:01.880 --> 00:07:05.840 more gun protections, more gun safety, and gun control. 114 00:07:06.600 --> 00:07:08.279 But these same families. 115 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:11.160 For example, in Nuvalde, are also gun owners. 116 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:14.080 So both things were happening at the same time. 117 00:07:16.280 --> 00:07:18.880 And when it comes to seeing that tension in action, 118 00:07:19.320 --> 00:07:21.200 there's no place quite like Texas. 119 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:26.520 Yes, Texas, which is the state that is home to 120 00:07:26.600 --> 00:07:30.360 some of the worst mass shootings that the United States 121 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:31.480 has ever seen. 122 00:07:32.280 --> 00:07:35.760 Texas has more registered guns maria than any other state 123 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:39.280 in the entire country. In twenty twenty one alone, the 124 00:07:39.400 --> 00:07:43.360 FBI says Texans purchased more than one point six million guns. 125 00:07:43.800 --> 00:07:45.880 You know, to give it some perspective, that's about the 126 00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:48.720 size of the population of Phoenix, Arizona. 127 00:07:48.840 --> 00:07:51.840 So today we're going down to the lone Star state. 128 00:07:52.120 --> 00:07:53.120 We're going to start in. 129 00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:54.120 Elbaso, Texas. 130 00:07:54.480 --> 00:07:58.240 Rinaldo traveled there and met up with some LATINX activists 131 00:07:58.280 --> 00:08:01.600 and with some gun owners to get some thoughts on 132 00:08:01.720 --> 00:08:04.200 gun reform, So take it away. 133 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:12.200 Right when we're talking about gun control activism, we should 134 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:14.880 point out that people in El Paso have been doing 135 00:08:14.920 --> 00:08:19.160 this work for years, like Hazus, who we heard from earlier. Today, 136 00:08:19.200 --> 00:08:23.160 he's twenty one any case worker helping undocumented youth. He's 137 00:08:23.200 --> 00:08:28.400 also unofficially advised and consulted with Democratic Congressoman Veronica Escovad 138 00:08:28.680 --> 00:08:32.880 on issues related to gun violence. Jzus's history with gun 139 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:38.440 violence begins long before the Elbaso shooting. It actually started 140 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:41.840 across the border in Seila Juades, Mexico, where he was 141 00:08:41.880 --> 00:08:44.559 born and lived the first few years of his life. 142 00:08:44.800 --> 00:08:47.360 I remember once we went to the movie theater. We 143 00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:49.880 were coming back and the car to the left of 144 00:08:49.920 --> 00:08:51.679 us was started shooting at the car to the right 145 00:08:51.720 --> 00:08:52.920 of us, and you're cut in the middle. 146 00:08:53.280 --> 00:08:55.840 The family was trapped in their own car between the 147 00:08:55.880 --> 00:08:56.280 other two. 148 00:08:56.960 --> 00:08:59.920 My father made us stuck under the seats and to 149 00:09:00.040 --> 00:09:03.000 try and shield us. But you're there and you're hearing 150 00:09:03.559 --> 00:09:05.959 the sound of bullets hitting the other car. 151 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:09.920 Hetsus was a young child and he was scared. He 152 00:09:10.040 --> 00:09:12.880 was with his parents. His mother was pregnant at the time. 153 00:09:13.240 --> 00:09:16.280 I remember my mother not being able to duck under 154 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:18.320 the seat, so my father just put his hand on 155 00:09:18.360 --> 00:09:21.400 her belly, and you know what protection was that going 156 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:24.240 to do. But I think that moment of my father 157 00:09:24.360 --> 00:09:26.600 still trying to protect my mother and trying to protect 158 00:09:26.600 --> 00:09:31.559 the baby was very It was beautiful Barbarian furiating because 159 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:33.640 we shouldn't have to live this way, and I think 160 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:38.680 that was a moment where we said, why is this happening. 161 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:45.840 This was in the late two thousands and there was 162 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:48.440 an all out war going on between the cartels on 163 00:09:48.520 --> 00:09:51.880 the border by two thousand and nine what would be 164 00:09:51.920 --> 00:09:56.760 known as the murder capital of the world. This violence 165 00:09:56.920 --> 00:10:01.200 was enabled by guns, many of them salt style rifles. 166 00:10:02.200 --> 00:10:05.320 Most of the guns then and even now are made 167 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:12.160 in the US. Hesus's parents decided that they needed to 168 00:10:12.280 --> 00:10:15.080 leave their home and move north to the US for 169 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:18.600 their family safety. It was two thousand and eight and 170 00:10:18.640 --> 00:10:22.280 his SEUs was just five years old. We moved it 171 00:10:22.360 --> 00:10:26.120 into a little studio apartment in central Apasso, and this 172 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:29.079 move was hard for Haeus. The distance was less than 173 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:32.640 forty miles away from his hometown, but al Baso felt 174 00:10:32.640 --> 00:10:35.840 like a completely different world. I think it's a culture 175 00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:38.199 shock my mother was an attorney in Mexico. 176 00:10:38.600 --> 00:10:41.120 Not being able to practice what you loved so much, 177 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:43.600 what you fought so hard to get, and now you're 178 00:10:43.640 --> 00:10:46.160 in a country where the best you can do is 179 00:10:46.360 --> 00:10:47.000 wash dishes. 180 00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:50.440 Life in Ibaso became easier for Haeus in high school 181 00:10:50.760 --> 00:10:53.800 once he became more fluent in English, and the move 182 00:10:53.960 --> 00:10:57.439 felt worth it finally because he and his family were 183 00:10:57.520 --> 00:11:00.959 safe on this side of the border. But that feeling 184 00:11:01.280 --> 00:11:07.079 wouldn't last. In twenty nineteen, Hessu's was a sophomore in 185 00:11:07.160 --> 00:11:10.800 high school with the budding interest in politics. On the 186 00:11:10.800 --> 00:11:13.280 morning of August third, he was sitting in on an 187 00:11:13.280 --> 00:11:16.760 immigration town hall at a local high school. Suddenly law 188 00:11:16.800 --> 00:11:20.000 enforcement officers showed up and told folks to leave the area. 189 00:11:20.679 --> 00:11:24.160 There was a shooting nearby, and honestly, I think you 190 00:11:25.040 --> 00:11:28.120 don't think of the magnitude at that moment right of 191 00:11:28.120 --> 00:11:32.760 what this could mean. Hesus logged into Facebook. Graphic videos 192 00:11:32.800 --> 00:11:35.800 of what had happened were all over his feed. It 193 00:11:35.840 --> 00:11:40.400 was his local Walmart fifteen miles away. This was a 194 00:11:40.400 --> 00:11:41.680 defining moment for him. 195 00:11:42.200 --> 00:11:44.280 It didn't take long for people to take to their 196 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:48.080 partisan corners right. It didn't take long for people to 197 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:51.920 start blaming each other in X, Y and Z and 198 00:11:51.960 --> 00:11:53.520 seeing the political. 199 00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:56.880 Theater play out. After the shooting, a swarm of journalists 200 00:11:56.920 --> 00:12:01.319 and elected officials came to Elbaso. Governor Greg Abbot held 201 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:04.160 a press conference with the Elbaso Chief of Police. 202 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:10.760 We pray that God can be with those who've been 203 00:12:10.800 --> 00:12:15.079 harmed in any way and bind up their wounds. 204 00:12:16.640 --> 00:12:17.959 We want to for. 205 00:12:17.960 --> 00:12:22.400 His Zeus, Abbot's reaction was just wrong and not enough. 206 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:26.280 Because we are a predominantly Hispanic and Latino community. Somebody 207 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:29.280 traveled seven hundred miles from Allen to a Basso just 208 00:12:29.280 --> 00:12:32.880 to du Le's harm. Tzus felt that the governor denied 209 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:36.439 the attack being a racially motivated and xenophobic attack on 210 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:40.200 our community. And as a Latino, you start to feel 211 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:43.400 threatened in your own skin because we're black, because we're brown. 212 00:12:43.920 --> 00:12:46.960 You start to feel if something like that could happen 213 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:49.160 in our community, what else. 214 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:56.880 Are people capable of. It was a political awakening for him, 215 00:12:57.320 --> 00:12:59.600 and he says a lot of people his age felt 216 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:02.760 the same way. They started thinking about how to move 217 00:13:02.800 --> 00:13:05.439 into action, How do we disarm hate? 218 00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:09.880 How do we find a solution where people defend their 219 00:13:09.880 --> 00:13:12.760 party lines? People defend their politics before we could sit 220 00:13:12.800 --> 00:13:17.199 down and have a common sense gun laws conversation. 221 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:22.920 Is this conversation about gun reform? And is this an 222 00:13:22.920 --> 00:13:27.200 issue that do you think people hear in Elbaso care 223 00:13:27.240 --> 00:13:30.560 about in general and then also care enough to get 224 00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:31.400 them out to vote? 225 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:37.439 You know what, I feel like we care, but sometimes 226 00:13:38.679 --> 00:13:40.760 we don't know what to do with that passion that 227 00:13:40.800 --> 00:13:44.560 we feel. So voting in Albaso is low, and it's 228 00:13:44.640 --> 00:13:45.480 dangerously low. 229 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:49.960 Becasus is right. Only about half of registered voters in 230 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:54.559 Elbaso voted in the twenty twenty presidential election cycle. Across 231 00:13:54.640 --> 00:13:58.200 Texas and across the country, the numbers aren't much higher. 232 00:13:58.600 --> 00:14:01.880 Only sixty seven percent of registered voters in Texas hit 233 00:14:01.920 --> 00:14:06.200 the polls in twenty twenty. Nationally about sixty six percent. 234 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:10.000 Did I think people hear an Ibaso care, but there 235 00:14:10.040 --> 00:14:12.120 is lack of education. They care because if the shooting 236 00:14:12.160 --> 00:14:15.240 and Mbaso happened here, they care because it was a 237 00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:19.040 very scary time for us here. They care because we're 238 00:14:19.080 --> 00:14:22.480 black and brown. They care because these victims could have 239 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:24.400 been their verscinos. They could have been their primos and 240 00:14:24.440 --> 00:14:27.640 primas and theos and theas. Now the question is do 241 00:14:27.680 --> 00:14:30.360 they care enough to vote. 242 00:14:33.280 --> 00:14:37.200 Unidos US is the country's largest Hispanic civil rights organization. 243 00:14:37.760 --> 00:14:40.360 They found that gun violence is the number four issue 244 00:14:40.360 --> 00:14:42.400 for Latins this election cycle. 245 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:48.080 On gun violence and crime, the overwhelming concerns for Latino 246 00:14:48.160 --> 00:14:51.720 voters are easy access to guns and the prevalence of 247 00:14:51.800 --> 00:14:52.760 school shootings. 248 00:14:53.240 --> 00:14:57.480 That's Gladisa Martineze Gastro. She's vice president of the Unidos 249 00:14:57.600 --> 00:14:59.080 US Latino Vote Initiative. 250 00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:03.080 Latino voters believe that guns are too easy to access, 251 00:15:03.400 --> 00:15:06.320 and they want elected officials to put an end to 252 00:15:06.400 --> 00:15:11.080 school shootings and expand community safety and mental health programs. 253 00:15:11.560 --> 00:15:14.640 According to any of those US, Latino voters also want 254 00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:18.720 secure entry check and IDs for schools, gun reforms like 255 00:15:18.800 --> 00:15:22.920 universal background checks and a ban on AR fifteen weapons. 256 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:29.280 This really raises the need for candidates and parties to 257 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:34.920 pay greater attention to this issue, which sadly that is 258 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:40.800 not only making tragedy in our community, but affecting many 259 00:15:40.880 --> 00:15:43.680 other sister American communities. 260 00:15:47.280 --> 00:15:51.000 When we come back, Rinaldo continues in Elbaso, we'll talk 261 00:15:51.040 --> 00:15:53.840 to more people there about how guns have sparked their 262 00:15:53.880 --> 00:15:56.800 interest in political activism or not. 263 00:15:57.560 --> 00:16:13.680 Stay with us not. Yes, Hey, we're back. 264 00:16:13.760 --> 00:16:17.240 And when we left off, our producer Renardo Lanos Junior 265 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:22.360 spoke with Activistjsus Salgado Ramos about his relationship to gun 266 00:16:22.440 --> 00:16:27.160 violence and to political activism, and coming up, we're gonna 267 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:30.680 hear how some gun owners are trying to find common 268 00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:34.080 ground with gun control activists like hissus. 269 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:37.840 But first we're gonna meet a mother in Elbaso who 270 00:16:37.920 --> 00:16:50.600 was also thrust into gun safety advocacy. Yeah, it's so 271 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:52.840 windy today, that's ridiculous. 272 00:16:53.640 --> 00:16:56.240 Do the winds like last all day? Usually are like, Oh, 273 00:16:56.280 --> 00:16:56.520 they do. 274 00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:02.120 I'm with Mindy Levanos. She's thirty eight years old. Today 275 00:17:02.280 --> 00:17:05.160 she's wearing a bright red shirt and some denim jorts. 276 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:08.280 The wind is blowing around her dark brown hair while 277 00:17:08.320 --> 00:17:11.320 we try to find a place to talk. We're at 278 00:17:11.320 --> 00:17:14.080 a park right across the highway from the walmart where 279 00:17:14.119 --> 00:17:16.240 the twenty nineteen Mats shooting happened. 280 00:17:16.520 --> 00:17:19.119 We have attended a lot of events here, and we 281 00:17:19.720 --> 00:17:21.720 have held our own events here. 282 00:17:22.200 --> 00:17:25.520 The we she's talking about is Mom's Demand Action. It's 283 00:17:25.520 --> 00:17:29.960 an organization that advocates for policy changes to curb gun violence. 284 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:33.480 Mindy is currently the leader of the Albaso chapter of 285 00:17:33.520 --> 00:17:37.240 Mom's Demand Action. After the Walmart shooting, they partnered with 286 00:17:37.280 --> 00:17:40.520 other local organizations to pay tribute to the victims who 287 00:17:40.520 --> 00:17:45.359 were killed. The event was held at this park and Antondo. 288 00:17:46.040 --> 00:17:50.800 We will never forget Javier Amir Rodriguez. 289 00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:55.280 We will never forget Angie and Lusby. 290 00:17:55.760 --> 00:17:58.560 Mindy brought her kids with her today. She had three 291 00:17:58.600 --> 00:18:02.439 boys and one girl. Right now, they're running around in 292 00:18:02.440 --> 00:18:06.879 the playground. Mindy stares at them from afar. Her kids 293 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:10.960 are her entire world. In fact, they're the spark that 294 00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:13.480 ignited her work as a gun control activist. 295 00:18:14.200 --> 00:18:14.760 What's your name? 296 00:18:14.800 --> 00:18:18.320 First of all, Andy? Andy is a little shy in 297 00:18:18.320 --> 00:18:19.000 front of the mic. 298 00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:21.520 How old are you? Andy? Nine? 299 00:18:21.960 --> 00:18:25.000 Mindy says her kids have a general understanding of the 300 00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:25.680 work she does. 301 00:18:26.359 --> 00:18:30.400 She takes care of us and it makes me happy. 302 00:18:30.600 --> 00:18:31.560 Oh what does mama do? 303 00:18:31.600 --> 00:18:31.760 You know? 304 00:18:31.800 --> 00:18:32.520 What mama does? 305 00:18:32.640 --> 00:18:32.840 Right? 306 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:35.679 What does mama do you? 307 00:18:36.560 --> 00:18:36.760 Well? 308 00:18:36.840 --> 00:18:40.000 No, besides being a stay at home lock, when I 309 00:18:40.040 --> 00:18:42.120 go with Mom's demand, what do I do with that stuff? 310 00:18:42.680 --> 00:18:43.520 What do I fight for? 311 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:46.080 No more gun? 312 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:51.840 That's not technically what Mindy does, but it's kind of close. 313 00:18:52.359 --> 00:18:55.240 She sees herself as someone who is committed to combating 314 00:18:55.280 --> 00:18:56.080 gun violence. 315 00:18:56.520 --> 00:18:59.959 I did not get involved until I had my own children. 316 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:03.720 Mindy knew about horrible mass shootings that took place across 317 00:19:03.760 --> 00:19:07.560 the country, but the twenty eighteen shooting in Parkland, Florida, 318 00:19:08.040 --> 00:19:12.640 changed things for her. Seventeen school children and staff were 319 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:16.399 killed at Marjorie's Stoneman Douglas High School. Even though it 320 00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:19.320 took place almost two thousand miles away from l Baso, 321 00:19:19.720 --> 00:19:22.000 she felt the tragedy viscerally. 322 00:19:22.560 --> 00:19:25.639 My heart was just broken because I had a baby 323 00:19:25.640 --> 00:19:27.520 at that time. I had a three year old, and 324 00:19:27.640 --> 00:19:28.520 I was devastated. 325 00:19:29.040 --> 00:19:32.560 After hearing the news, Mindy went to her son's preschool 326 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:35.280 to pick him up. When she got there, she was 327 00:19:35.320 --> 00:19:36.080 still reeling. 328 00:19:36.560 --> 00:19:38.879 My eyes were swollen. I've been crying. I'm talking to 329 00:19:38.920 --> 00:19:41.560 the teachers like can you believe it? Did you see that? 330 00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:45.240 And I remember she telling me we do drills here too, 331 00:19:45.320 --> 00:19:47.040 And I was like, what do you mean. He's three 332 00:19:47.520 --> 00:19:49.960 and it's a tiny preschool, Like nobody's going to come here, 333 00:19:50.119 --> 00:19:50.919 and she was like, no. 334 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:51.960 We have to practice. 335 00:19:52.440 --> 00:19:54.480 Mindy says she never had to do these types of 336 00:19:54.560 --> 00:19:56.000 drills when she was a kid. 337 00:19:56.200 --> 00:19:58.439 Then she said they would hide it behind her desk 338 00:19:59.040 --> 00:20:02.320 and she would cover them with her body. And when 339 00:20:02.320 --> 00:20:05.719 she told me that, I was just like, oh my gosh. 340 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:08.639 When it was finally her son's turn to participate in 341 00:20:08.680 --> 00:20:11.320 a drill, Mindy and her husband talked about it as 342 00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:12.760 a family. Afterwards. 343 00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:15.520 We asked him, how do you feel, and he said 344 00:20:15.560 --> 00:20:18.280 he was scared. He said that he didn't know what 345 00:20:18.359 --> 00:20:21.280 was going on and that he just listened to his 346 00:20:21.320 --> 00:20:23.760 teacher and he asked me, why do we have to 347 00:20:23.800 --> 00:20:27.560 do this, and we explained to him, you know, there's 348 00:20:27.600 --> 00:20:31.760 people who do bad things and it's just something you 349 00:20:31.840 --> 00:20:32.360 have to do. 350 00:20:33.080 --> 00:20:36.200 The drills became even harder for Mindy to manage when 351 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:37.240 her other kid went. 352 00:20:37.080 --> 00:20:40.399 To school, and my second one, he got scared because 353 00:20:40.440 --> 00:20:42.560 the principle was going around making sure doors were locked 354 00:20:42.800 --> 00:20:44.960 and he thought there was a real shooter. So he 355 00:20:45.040 --> 00:20:47.160 was really scared and I had to call and calm 356 00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:47.679 him down. 357 00:20:48.080 --> 00:20:51.480 Now she's worried about her third child. He's five years 358 00:20:51.520 --> 00:20:54.200 old and about to experience his first drill. 359 00:20:54.760 --> 00:20:56.760 He's going to have to experience a big drill too, 360 00:20:56.800 --> 00:20:59.440 with noise and everything, and I'm nervous for him because 361 00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:00.360 he's my son's of one. 362 00:21:00.440 --> 00:21:02.840 But it breaks my heart that my kids have to 363 00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:03.200 do this. 364 00:21:08.520 --> 00:21:12.240 These active shooter and lockdown drills became more frequent after 365 00:21:12.280 --> 00:21:16.120 the Columbine shooting in nineteen ninety nine. As of last year, 366 00:21:16.440 --> 00:21:20.119 thirty seven states across the country require public schools to 367 00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:25.160 do active shooter drills. Entire generations are experiencing this as 368 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:28.639 a norm, but Mindy doesn't want any child to have 369 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:29.440 to live like that. 370 00:21:29.640 --> 00:21:32.280 We should be more upset, especially as moms. No one's 371 00:21:32.280 --> 00:21:33.880 going to fight harder for our kids than we are. 372 00:21:34.600 --> 00:21:37.040 Mindy first signed up for text message alerts with the 373 00:21:37.160 --> 00:21:41.360 National Mom's Demand Action Organization in twenty eighteen, and then 374 00:21:41.400 --> 00:21:44.320 the following year, in twenty nineteen, they created a local 375 00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:48.840 chapter in il Baso. Mindy became an active member and organizer. 376 00:21:51.280 --> 00:21:53.840 On August third, twenty nineteen, she was with the group 377 00:21:53.880 --> 00:21:56.880 in DC attending a gun reform event. 378 00:21:57.440 --> 00:22:00.320 After the shooting, and it just took a more personal 379 00:22:00.359 --> 00:22:02.959 approach because it was my home and I thought, oh 380 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:04.919 my gosh, if we had been there, he would have 381 00:22:05.440 --> 00:22:06.800 gone after us because. 382 00:22:06.520 --> 00:22:08.160 We're brown, My kids are brown. 383 00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:13.000 I'd never bought of us as different because down here 384 00:22:13.040 --> 00:22:13.720 everybody's brown. 385 00:22:17.640 --> 00:22:20.960 After the shooting, Mindy and Mom's Demand Action held local 386 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:24.320 meetings for people to talk about their trauma. The shooting 387 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:31.439 mobilized people in the region and across the country. Mom's 388 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:34.760 Demand Action met with local and state officials, and they 389 00:22:34.840 --> 00:22:35.680 held rallies. 390 00:22:36.119 --> 00:22:39.600 Activists already in Washington, d c rallied at the White 391 00:22:39.640 --> 00:22:43.200 House last night after learning of the deadly El Paso shooting. 392 00:22:43.600 --> 00:22:47.680 Nearly two thousand Moms Demand Action leaders are already attending 393 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:51.240 a conference there this weekend. Hundreds of them marched from 394 00:22:51.240 --> 00:22:52.760 the White House to Capitol Hill. 395 00:22:52.840 --> 00:22:56.640 And Mindy campaign for Democrat Betho O'Rourke when he ran 396 00:22:56.680 --> 00:22:59.480 for governor. She also supported him when he ran for 397 00:22:59.560 --> 00:23:02.920 Senate and for President. A Roorke pushed for a ban 398 00:23:03.080 --> 00:23:05.120 on assault weapons during his campaign. 399 00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:07.520 Hell, yes, we're going to take your AR fifteen, your 400 00:23:07.560 --> 00:23:08.600 AK forty seven. 401 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:10.000