Phoebe-Virginia Tech Shooting Anniversary-4/16/10

Yesterday, Samantha and I went to Times Square to participate in an event to remember the people who died in the Virginia Tech shooting three years ago.  We got to Times Square at 11:30am and we were told to wear all black.  There was a section blocked off with barricades for the participants of the event.  When we got there, we were given red and oranges ribbons (the school colors of Virginia Tech) and met a woman named Helen, who was running it.  She gave us a clipboard and told us that our job was to go around and sign everyone in and make sure they write down their e-mail addresses.  Because 32 people were killed in the shooting, 32 people at the event were there to represent each of the students.  They would read something about who they were and their interests and then lay down to commemorate them.  Before this happened, there were a few different speakers, one of which was a friend of one of the people who was killed that day.  She talked about her friend, and how now she is an advocate against gun violence.  Another speaker was Jackie Hilly (the head of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence).  After that was when everyone spoke about the people killed and laid down.  At that point, Samantha and I were just watching.  Many pedestrians stopped to see what was going on (I noticed that about 60 were standing around watching).

Here is a picture of a few of the people who were lying down.

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