About 40 people gathered in front of Montpelier City Hall at dusk Thursday to mark the fifth anniversary of the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
The incident at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, which claimed the lives of 20 students ages 6 and 7, as well as six adults, is one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.
The advocacy group Gun Sense Vermont organized the Montpelier vigil and nine other events this week in locations around the state.
Kelly McCracken, a former Gun Sense Vermont board member who organized the Montpelier event, said that although she has political concerns about gun violence prevention, this vigil wasn’t about advancing an agenda.
“I think this shooting had such an impact on people,” she said. “Being in the presence of other people who have the same concerns, it just makes me feel some solidarity and some connection.”
The group stood in an arc facing Main Street for almost an hour, while temperatures hovered around 10 degrees. Members of the Central Vermont Solidarity Singers sang harmonies. Attendees held candles along with placards that displayed the names and ages of the victims.
Promotional materials for the vigils said they were also meant to honor “the 500,000 victims and survivors of gun violence in the United States since December 2012.”
