Annunciation staff, families and students were inside the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday for a time of reflection and song and to help amplify a collective call to lawmakers to better protect Minnesota children from preventable violence.
The Annunciation Catholic School community sings for change at the Minnesota state capitol on Tuesday, six months after the mass shooting in south Minneapolis. The crowd also read the names of Minnesota legislators, in between songs sending a message of "goodwill" and "hope" to capitol lawmakers.
"For me, it's us standing together in unity saying enough is enough, and that this is a human issue. And we have every opportunity to be able to make change in the State of Minnesota. So let's go, and this is one step," says one Annunciation parent, Kristen Neville.
As the current legislative session continues through May, these families say that the gathering is a vital step toward protecting other Minnesotans from similar violence.
One of the young victims of the Annunciation shooting spoke out in support of more regulations to guns in the state.
Lydia Kaiser is an 8th grader at Annunciation Church. She was shot in the head when a gunman opened fire into the church while the children were at mass. She joined Minnesota Governor Tim Walz Tuesday as he proposed new gun safety measures for the state.
"Two students survived gunshot injuries to the head," Kaiser said Tuesday. "I'm one of them. All children have the right to live free from gun violence in schools, churches, and in our communities. Elected officials have a duty to protect us from guns."
Parents from the school also set-up 60 empty desks which will be displayed outside the Minnesota State Capitol from February 24-26. They say each represents the more than 200 Minnesota children killed by gun violence since 2021.
Those desks include two inside the capitol for Flether Merkel and Harper Moyski, the two children who were killed in the incident. Kaiser was the final student that survived to get out of the hospital.
"I was taken to the hospital and rushed into surgery," explained Kaiser about her injuries. "The doctor moved a large piece, almost half of my skull, to let my brain swell and to remove bone and bullet fragments from my head. I had a second surgery three weeks later to put the piece of my skull back in my head. No one should have to go through what we went through at Annunciation."
