Vigil held for gay bar shooting victims in Arizona
TUCSON, Ariz. (CNN, KYMA) - Two Tucson men killed in a targeted shooting outside a gay bar are being remembered.
Family and friends gathered for a vigil honoring Vincent Anthony Siqueiros and Cameron Davis Capara while also calling on the community to speak out against hate.
"Tonight, we say their names...their lives mattered, their love mattered, their truth mattered and so do the lives of millions of people around the world who are wondering if they're the next target," said Kate Marquez, Siqueiros' sister.
Family and friends choked through tears Wednesday night as they spoke about Siqueiros and Capara's life and legacy respectively.
"Every person here tonight has given Vincent something he's spent his whole life searching for, but because of who he was," Marquez expressed.
The pair tragically lost their lives after being shot in a targeted attack outside of the Venture-N, a gay bar in Tucson, Sunday night.
Their families asking the crowd of thousands to remember both men not just as what happened to them, but as how they lived their lives.
"When he was asked to turn himself down, he turned himself up, he loved harder," Marquez shared.
"He didn't just talk about caring, he lived it, or simply hand them the money and wish them well," said Jeff Davis Capara, Capara's father.
But their message extended into something far greater a call to action to speak out against homophobia and discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community.
"Vincent and Cameron should be here tonight...because hate doesn't begin with a gun...it begins with something much earlier," Marquez remarked.
That sentiment being shared by Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and other leaders.
"Hate crimes never happen in a vacuum," Mayor Romero spoke. "Anti-LGBTQ violence is cultivated by ant-LGBTQ rhetoric."
While nothing will bring the two men back, those closest to them left the crowd with memories of their lives and a request to continue honoring them in the every day.
