The massacre in El Paso sent shockwaves across the country, and especially throughout the Rio Grande Valley. People in McAllen held a vigil on Wednesday to honor their fellow border city hundreds of miles away. At the event they expressed defiance and sadness. But they also expressed fear 鈥� fear that what happened in El Paso could someday happen to them.
La Union Del Pueblo Entero held the vigil to stand in solidarity with their fellow border city hundreds of miles away.
Laura Gonzalez was in the crowd. She was born in Ciudad Juarez and grew up in El Paso.
鈥淲e used to take a streetcar back and forth, and you didn鈥檛 need to show your papers," she said. "You didn鈥檛 need to show anything because it was a friendly open border.鈥�
She said her memories of El Paso have always been positive.
鈥淥ne of sharing, one of community, one of bicultural experiences that you didn鈥檛 even need to think about,鈥� she said.
She鈥檚 now lived in the Rio Grande Valley for more than a decade. Today she held a sign that read "El Paso Strong."
Gonzalez said she remembered being on a playground near the Walmart where the recent shooting took place. Despite the 700 miles between El Paso and McAllen, she felt the massacre could have happened in McAllen too.
鈥淲e all have a target on our backs. It鈥檚 unfortunately because I look like this. It makes me a target,鈥� Gonzalez said. 鈥淎nd before when I was a child I never ever even thought about that.鈥�
She said she and her family have had to change their routines, especially when they're shopping.
鈥淭he day after this horrible incident happened my sister got out of the hospital," she said. "And so we were going to Target, and I told her, 'You know what, if something happens meet me in the cosmetics.' I mean, now we鈥檙e even thinking about that.鈥�
Olga Fernandez is also from the Rio Grande Valley. She鈥檚 a secretary at a local school district. Fernandez said the shooting still traumatizes her.
鈥淓very single step that I walk [I'm] turning my back. Seeing who鈥檚 in front of me, who has a backpack, who鈥檚 walking strange, who鈥檚 looking at me differently,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 scared, I鈥檓 scared. It鈥檚 not who I am.鈥�
Fernandez was at a respite center in the Valley helping asylum-seeking migrants when she learned about the El Paso incident.
鈥淚 said, 'Oh my God, maybe they鈥檙e going to come over here because if they're targeting Latinos, Hispanics, Mexicans, maybe they鈥檙e going to come over here.'鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was in a panic mode.鈥�
Fernandez attended the vigil with her son. She said parents need to talk to their kids.
鈥淲e need to teach our kids to respect every single one, no matter what color, race, the way they talk, the way they have their accent. Everybody is the same,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e are here to live in harmony.鈥�
Tania Chavez, a strategist with La Union Del Pubelo Entero, helped organize the vigil.
Chavez said she鈥檚 also still processing what happened in El Paso. She said the shooting hit close to home. Her parents live in Mexico. They visit her every weekend, and one of the things they do as a family is go to Walmart.
鈥淭o know that it was a weekend that they would have been here, to know that it was a weekend at a place where we would have been at. It was just a little too real,鈥� Chavez said. 鈥淚鈥檝e lost a brother to gun violence, and to think I would love my parents in such a violent way -- it was painful and it was hurtful.鈥�
She said it was important for her community to hold the vigil to stand in solidarity with El Paso and to create a space for them to grieve.
鈥淲e fight all the time and we march and we protest all the time,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e needed to take a moment to be in silence, to cry, to pray because tomorrow we鈥檒l continue with the fight, but today we need to take a step back and reenergize.鈥�
Chavez said they will encourage people in the community to take action.
鈥淚f the killing of these many people haven鈥檛 shaken you, what will?鈥� she asked. 鈥淲hat will it take for people to go out and vote, to register to vote, to become U.S. citizens if they have the ability to do so?鈥�
People at the vigil also remembered Leo Campos and his wife Maribel, who died in the El Paso shooting. Campos attended school in the Rio Grande Valley. Another vigil will be held this weekend in Brownsville.
Reynaldo Lea帽os Jr. can be reached at Reynaldo@TPR.org and on Twitter at
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