A vigil took place Wednesday night in Oakland as the community remembered the victims of the recent mass shootings in California.
The two Bay Area vigils took place Wednesday night at Wilma Chan Park in Oakland and Santa Clara University.
This comes after three horrific acts of gun violence in Monterey Park, Half Moon Bay and Oakland.
“I was born in Monterey Park. I was born in the hospital like three blocks away from the shooting,” said Oakland resident Timmy Lu.
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Lu said he wanted to be with his community.
“Events like this have a way to make me afraid and I don’t want to be afraid,” he said.
The fear is compounded by the Lunar New Year, celebrated by some Asian cultures.
“I think it’s rocked all of us it’s been a tough couple of years dealing with AAPI hate and then these two shocking events on the days of the year when we most think about our families and coming together,” said former Oakland Mayor Jean Quan.
Dr. Jennifer Tran with the Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce and helped organize the city’s vigil.
She said that some weren’t at the vigil because they consider this week a time to only talk about the good.
“But gathering is absolutely necessary for our healing,” Tran said.
While a majority of the victims in these shootings have been of Asian descent, Tran added that the vigil is about more than just the AAPI community.
“That same fear and devastation is shared across non-AAPI communities as well, you know, given the recent like loss of Mario Navarro, understanding that gun violence isn’t just affecting our communities but other communities as well,” she said.
There were more than 30 organizations in that made the Oakland event possible and happen very quickly.
