(RoyalPatriot.com )- Jackie Hegarty was a child in the second grade at Sandy Hook Elementary School when a shooter armed with an AR-15 opened fire and killed 20 students and 6 teachers on December 14, 2012. Hegarty, who is now 17 years old, spoke at the National Vigil for All Victims of Gun Violence, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C.
The event was reportedly launched 10 years ago to remember the horrific massacre that took place in Newtown, Connecticut.
“I heard and saw things no child, no person should ever have to see,” Hegarty told the crowd. “It was impossible to imagine that 26 innocent lives were killed in the same building I was in.
She added that she was alive because the shooter decided to go “left” instead of “right.”
Since the incident, Hegarty has been a gun control advocate and was among several advocates at the vigil who spoke, including President Joe Biden. She introduced Biden as “a president who does more than send thoughts and prayers,” and has called for stricter gun laws in the country.
She said that guns are the number one killer of children in the U.S., and they are asked “to be brave while hiding under our desks in our classrooms while too many elected officials lack the courage to pass commonsense laws to save our lives.”
Other survivors of gun violence were also present, including Keinon Carter, who was there when a shooter opened fire at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida in 2016 which left 49 people dead and more than 50 injured.
Carter also spoke at the vigil alongside the action group “Gays Against Guns,” questioning why they have to bury those they love because of “someone’s ignorance.”
Kimberly Rubio, mother of Alexandria who died in the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas also spoke, urging Americans to support the Senate banning so-called “assault weapons.”
