Las Cruces holds vigil in solidarity with El Paso in wake of mass shooting

With the entire Borderland shaken by El Paso’s mass casualty shooting, the City of Crosses held a vigil Monday night in solidarity with the Sun City.

“I don’t want to take this as business as usual,” said Councilman Gabe Vasquez, who represents district three in Las Cruces. “I refuse to accept that this is the new America.”

The Las Cruces event was called an ‘expression of solidarity’ with the people of El Paso, offering support and sympathy. The vigil took place in the Plaza de Las Cruces. (You can watch the vigil in the video player below.)

“We all go through grief in different ways,” said Councilman Jack Eakman, who represents district four in Las Cruces. “We all have to face the five stages. Right now, I’m in the anger phase and it colors my perspective.”

“These poor people who were shot and murdered,” said Mayor Ken Miyagishima. “They were just going about their day shopping and 22 of them aren’t coming home.”

“El Paso is our community,” Vasquez said “We have one community: that’s Juarez, Las Cruces and El Paso. I don’t think we have to wait for it to happen in Las Cruces. To me, it’s already happened in Las Cruces.”