SEATTLE — A mobile peace rally hit the streets of Seattle on Friday, in protest of gun violence and its impact on families in Washington.
“Traffic jam for peace” included dozens of vehicles, adorned with signs and red balloons. The caravan slowed traffic from south Seattle and made its way to SODO, halting multiple lanes on Interstate 5 and lining roads with parked vehicles.
The event was organized by Washington nonprofit Urban Family and led by Black and brown community members. The rally launched Urban Family’s “100 days of peace” initiative, said Shantel Patu, the executive director of Urban Family.
“The traffic jam for peace is, metaphorically, a way to show how what affects one of us directly, affects all of us indirectly,” Patu said. “We’re using this traffic jam as a way to get people’s attention.”
The red balloons serve as a symbol to “stop" and be in unity together for the cause, she added.
“Bullets don’t have names," Patu said. "Our gun violence issue is not color-coded, it’s not segregated. Bullets can go wherever they want."
Gun violence has impacted people’s homes, schools, businesses and many other places commonly believed to be safe and free from such dangers. In June, Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. surgeon general, declared gun violence a public health crisis, an advisory driven by the growing number of injuries and deaths involving firearms across the nation.
“America should be a place where all of us can go to school, go to work, go to the supermarket, go to our house of worship, without having to worry that that's going to put our life at risk," Murthy told The Associated Press.
Community members are reeling from a July 3 shooting at a Lynnwood mall, where a fight between two groups of people turned deadly. A 13-year-old girl, a bystander and not involved in the fight, was killed.
“This is city-wide. This is neighborhood wide. This is community wide," Patu said. "This is happening everywhere.”