Ashland, Ore., – In Southern Oregon, at least two hundred people are giving their respects to those who died at the hands of a terrorist in Orlando.
Although separated by 3,000 miles, people like Andrew Cayting is among the two hundred others in Ashland, standing with their brothers and sisters in Orlando, shocked and saddened by the actions of a man driven by hate.
“I’m a proud father of a gay son and I’m kind of coming for him” said Cayting.
Those who are here, hope their show of support and their thoughts and prayers will help offer some comfort to the victims families.
Cayting said the vigil is “taking me out of my depression since this incident occurred and it’s really uplifting to be here and to hold the flag and just be here with other folks who are upset.”
Flowers and colorful chalk cover the ground with heartfelt messages.
“We’re showing everybody that love is better than hate and that we can be better than this, we are better than this, we need to be better than this.” said Nick Petersen.
And while many see this as a hate crime to the LGBTQ community, others say something has to be done about this violence as a whole.
“relatively brief 30 years of life there have been more mass shootings I think in my lifetime than the few past generations and yes hitting the gay community hits closer to home, but I’m just really tired of this.” said Petersen.
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