Keeping vigil

Candlelight gathering honors victims of gun violence

By Monica Stark Enterprise staff writer

On Thursday night, about 75 Davisites gathered in Central Park for a candlelight vigil in response to the recent gun violence in Monterey Park, Half Moon Bay and Oakland.

The recent tragedies hit close to home to the event’s lead organizer, Roan Thibault, a freshman at UC Davis who helped start the UC Davis chapter of Students Demand Action this quarter.

“With so much carnage across a state that I love — and as a Los Angeles native, it adds a disturbing element to these tragedies for me to be able to visualize familiar communities like Monterey Park in so much pain,” he told the Enterprise.

Thibault said in a college town, “Davisites can process the violence across our state and channel it into action.”

“We cannot keep living like this and allowing our communities to die like this. And I hope we’ll spotlight the devastating toll that gun violence has had on the AAPI community, from these tragedies to the daily gun violence that doesn’t make the headlines,” Thibault said.

Thibault had the idea to hold the vigil, which began with a simple email to Davis City Council Member Gloria Partida, who he knew had been an active organizer around gun safety and high-impact events like these. Partida emceed the vigil.

Students and community members gathered on the lawn near the carousel that the solemn and chilly evening listening to elected officials, faith leaders, and the host organizations, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and Students Demand Action, who demand action and justice from the gun violence that has plagued the country.

As candlelight illuminated the tears of some, the