Crime & Safety
Moms Wear Orange In Worcester On Gun Violence Awareness Day
The Friday gathering at the DCU Center comes after a string of mass shootings across the U.S. that have left dozens dead and injured.
WORCESTER, MA — With the state Democratic convention coming to Worcester's DCU Center this weekend, a group of gun violence activists and elected officials will hold a rally outside the arena on Friday evening.
The members of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action will be wearing orange shirts during the event to commemorate National Gun Violence Awareness Day on Friday. The event will follow two major mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., and Uvalde, Texas — but also many other smaller mass shootings across the nation over the last few weeks.
The orange shirts are a tribute to Hadiya Pendleton, a Chicago teen who was shot to death on her 18th birthday in 2015. The color has become a symbol of the thousands of Americans who are killed, die by suicide or who are wounded each year with guns — that number was over 45,000 in 2020 alone, or about 124 per day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Friday's event will feature remarks by U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Worcester) and Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty Jr, and Dr. Joanna MacGugan, Dr. Peter McConarty and Ken McDonnell from Central MA Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
The event begins at 5 p.m. at the DCU Center, 50 Foster St.
