On Sunday morning, dozens of North Texas residents who have been victims of violent crimes boarded buses and traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in the first March on Washington for Crime Victims.
According to Crime Victims Support for Safety and Justice (CSSJ), more than 3,000 victims of violent crimes and family members of homicide victims from across the country plan to take part in the rally on Tuesday to make their voices heard by lawmakers.
“We’re going to Washington, D.C., to advocate for the rights of crime victims and basically try to change things so that crime victims have more access to the resources and assistance that they need, because right now a lot of the funding for crime victim assistance has been cut,” Journey4ward founder Kathy Taylor said.
In 2013, Taylor’s 27-year-old son, Corey, was shot and killed by a convicted felon in Houston.
“I don’t know if gun violence is going to change. It doesn’t seem to be getting better, and that means we need those resources to be readily available and readily accessible,” Taylor said. “I think victims of gun violence need more resources so they don’t have to face the barriers that we all faced when we lost a loved one.”
Participants in the rally will advocate for policy changes, expanded financial and emotional support for crime victims and their families, and additional programming to address the root causes of crime, such as rehabilitation and community-led violence intervention, according to a news release.
This group of North Texas people share a bond they don’t want anyone else to experience.
“I actually have family members who have died from gun violence, so it’s really important for us to come together and hear other people’s stories,” said Lisa McDaniel, who is taking the trip.
The journey also has personal meaning for Mother of Murdered Angels founder Melinda Hamilton, who lost her daughter, Shemeka Rodriguez, in a deadly shooting in Fort Worth in 2017, her grandson, Derrick Johnson, to gun violence three years later, and her brother, who was fatally shot in 1980.
“We’ve all been in the situation we’re in right now, and if we don’t make a change, more people are going to be affected, and that’s why we’re here,” said Hamilton, who has spoken with NBC5 in the past about her support and advocacy work for victims’ families.
According to the CSSJ, 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of the Victims of Crime Act, the 30th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act and the 20th anniversary of the Crime Victims’ Rights Act.
