ABILENE, TX – To honor the memory of Vanessa Guillen, the League of United Latin American Citizens held a vigil on Saturday night.
“We’re hoping that the government sees that we’re serious about this, and something needs to be done,” said League of United Latin American Citizens District 9 Director Jack Guzman.
Early Sunday morning protesters gathered outside the Abilene Police Department before driving to the Fort Hood area to hold vigil at the location where Vanessa Guillen’s body was found.
“We need to be a voice to bring awareness against sexual harassment, sexual assault, any type of hate crime, and we want people to know that we are here to be their voice,” said U.S. Army veteran and driving protest co-organizer Heather Robbins.
Guzman says it is important for Vanessa Guillen’s family to know there are people around the state of Texas, and the country who support them.
“Things have been the same for a long time, and in order to make change, you gotta have your voice heard, and I think with everyone having their voice heard, and I think people are now starting to listen and realize what’s really going on,” said Guzman.
Participants in Saturday night’s vigil and Sunday’s driving protest say, they are fighting for legislation designed to give harassment and assault victims the opportunity to report their cases to officials outside the chain of command.
“If you’re not able to get somewhere within that career field, which would be the military in this instance, there should always be a second party to reach out to that’ll do an investigation,” said Sacrosancts Motorcycle Ministry Abilene President J.W. Harper.
Organizers say the protests and vigils will continue until a real change is made.
“Even if it takes years to come, we will not shut up, we will be very loud, and we are spreading this across the nation and honestly around the world,” said Robbins.
