Content warning: This email reflects on the events in Lewiston, Maine on October 25, 2023. If this is too much to read, we understand. Take care of yourself and skip the rest of this email. Here are some mental health resources that you may find helpful.
Today marks a year since the tragic mass shooting at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston, Maine, where eighteen people were killed and thirteen more were injured.
This is the tenth-deadliest shooting in recent history, and like many other mass shootings, the warning signs were there. The perpetrator was well-known to law enforcement for months. They were told about his potential for violence. His family and friends warned everyone from his army supervisor to the local police that they were concerned about his access to guns. They tried to do everything right.
And still, because of loose laws and loopholes, eighteen lives were taken, thirteen people were injured, and a community is forever changed.
This was preventable. The fact that it happened is a massive failure caused by our leaders’ inaction.
We need stronger background checks, red flag laws, and the multitude of gun safety solutions that we know work. That’s the future we’re fighting for.
We won’t forget Lewiston. We won’t forget the victims who died and were injured in this senseless tragedy. We continue onwards for them.
In solidarity,
Team March For Our Lives
Today and every day we honor the lives lost in Lewiston, Maine on October 25, 2023.
Tricia Asselin, 53
William “Billy” Brackett, 48
Peyton Brewer-Ross, 40
Thomas Conrad, 34
Michael Deslauriers II, 51
Maxx Hathaway, 35
Keith Macneir, 64
Bryan MacFarlane, 41
Ronald Morin, 55
Joshua Seal, 36
Arthur Strout, 42
Robert “Bob” Violette, 76
Lucille Violette, 73
Stephen Vozzella, 45
Jason Walker, 51
Joseph Walker, 57
William “Bill” Young, 44
Aaron Young, 14