Community demands justice for victims of Uvalde school shooting at rally

(UVALDE, Texas) — Hundreds of people marched from Robb Elementary School to Uvalde Town Square on Sunday to honor the victims and to hold elected officials accountable for the mass school shooting that claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers.

Family members of the victims made impassioned speeches at the Unheard Voices March & Rally, demanding justice for their loved ones who were killed in the May 24 shooting.

“What I want, you can’t give me. I want my daughter back,” Kimberly Rubio, mother of Lexi Rubio, said. “We want answers. We seek justice. We demand change.”

One by one, victims’ family members came to the mic and announced the name of their loved one, holding posters with the child’s picture on them, according to ABC News San Antonio affiliate KSAT.

There were repeated chants of “vote them out,” referring to politicians who don’t support gun reform and who didn’t attend the rally.

People at the rally also expressed anger at law enforcement’s response to the shooting.

Uvalde police waited 77 minutes in the hallway outside the classroom where the suspect was before approaching him.

Pete Arredondo, the police chief for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (UCISD), resigned from his position on the Uvalde City Council, saying in his resignation letter that it was “in the best interest of the community to step down as a member of the City Council for District 3 to minimize further distractions.”

At the Unheard Voice March Sunday, community members called for Arredondo to step down from his position in the school district. The school district put him on administrative leave in June.

“You do not deserve to wear a badge,” said a loved one of 10-year-old Amerie Jo Garza, who was killed in the mass shooting.

ABC News’ Izzy Alvarez and Marilyn Heck contributed to this report.

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