Weekend rallies invite community to stand against gun violence

SOUTH BEND — Fifteen-year-old Hunter Dunnuck, a rising sophomore at Mishawaka High School, remembers when his school shut down for three days in December 2021 after receiving a shooting threat.

Because of that experience, he helped organize one of two marches planned for this weekend against gun violence. But, he says, his story is not unique; gun violence is something he’s seen a lot of people relate to in South Bend.

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At 11 a.m. Saturday, South Bend will join more than 300 cities in the country as part of the national March for Our Lives Day. March for Our Lives is a youth-based movement born out of the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Fla.

Rising Mishawaka High School senior Sarah Burns joined March for Our Lives about six months ago. After the May 24 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, she said, the organization had an emergency call and encouraged anyone across the country to organize a march for June 11.

Sarah, Hunter and a third student organizer began planning South Bend’s.

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“I think it will be a good opportunity for people who have these experiences to show their support and how they feel,” Hunter said of the march.

The march will begin at the Jon R. Hunt Plaza in downtown. Participants will walk south down Michigan Street before turning west on Jefferson Boulevard and then north to go up Main Street. The group will end by turning east on Colfax Avenue to head back to the plaza. Participants are encouraged to bring their own signs and wear blue — the national March for Our Lives color.

The estimated length of the march is about 30 to 40 minutes, Hunter and Sarah said. Afterward at the plaza, speakers are slotted to address the crowd and there possibly will be live music — though the pair said a musician has not been confirmed. Speakers include local anti-gun activists, elected officials and a local teacher.

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Hunter said the team hoped to bring in more teachers but that many were on the fence about speaking publicly.

“I think that shows how much backlash teachers get from all of this,” he said.

To promote inclusivity, organizers have enlisted a volunteer to translate the speeches to Spanish and have reached out to a variety of schools in the area to invite students of all demographics.

Then on Sunday, the South Bend community organization Let’s Turn It Around (LTIA) will hold its third annual Community Prayer for Peace Rally. The rally starts at 5 p.m., also at the Jon R. Hunt Plaza.

Created almost 30 years ago, LTIA promotes a public awareness of treating all human beings with peace and love. Founder Lynn Coleman, a former South Bend Police officer and assistant to former Mayor Stephen Luecke, said the inaugural rally was held to address outcries and nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd in 2020.

This year, Coleman said, the rally will specifically address gun violence.

“If we can stop one person from harming themselves or someone else, that would be beneficial,” Coleman said.

In past years, local ministers from all denominations spoke as part of the rally. In addition to religious figures, people affected by gun violence also will speak — including both victims and perpetrators of gun violence.

One speaker is Ira White, who has been out of prison for about 90 days after serving 30 years. White explained his motivation for working to curb violence in the community, saying that through his time in prison, he noticed younger and younger people coming in to serve time.

“They’re not mentally prepared,” White said.

As national gun violence has been rapidly increasing, White explained that he feels that it will be a “bad summer” in South Bend.

For the Sunday rally, Coleman said, there is no “target audience” to encourage to attend: “This is about human beings. About more peace and love among all human beings."

Email Alysa Guffey at aguffey1@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: anti-gun violence rallies happening this weekend in South Bend