WASHINGTON — Two churches in Washington, D.C. offered a poignant reminder of the cost of gun violence over the weekend.
The Gun Violence Prevention Team of National United Methodist Church set up 19 student chairs to remember school children killed in Uvalde, Texas. There were also two chairs set up for the two teachers killed. One chair was also set up in consideration of the gunman.
In a statement, the church explained its choice to include a chair for the gunman in its display.
"The chairs represent death resulting from gun violence, and the shooter was intentionally included. He is responsible for this tragedy, yet he too is a victim of our unwillingness to make common sense policy decisions to keep guns out of our communities," a spokesperson said. "We want people to wrestle with the reasons this young man lost his way and the sorts of choices and investments we might make to prevent such loss."
The chairs were to be on display at two campuses until Monday afternoon.
Twenty-one people were killed last week in what is now considered the deadliest school shooting in Texas history.
It happened at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, which is about four hours west of Houston.
Nineteen of the victims were students. Robb Elementary School has nearly 600 students in the second, third and fourth grades. Typically, students in those grades are between 6 and 10 years old.
President Joe Biden grieved with the shattered community of Uvalde on Sunday, mourning privately for three hours with anguished families left behind. Faced with chants of “do something” as he departed a church service, Biden pledged: “We will.”
At Robb Elementary School, Biden visited a memorial of 21 white crosses — one for each of those killed — and first lady Jill Biden added a bouquet of white flowers to those already placed in front of the school sign. The couple then viewed individual altars erected in memory of each student, the first lady touching the children's photos as they moved along the row.