In response to recent shootings in city neighborhoods, UTEC has organized a Community Response Event that begins at 5 pm at City Hall. Attendees will process up Dutton Street to the Lord Overpass. The purpose of the event is to demonstrate that all residents in the city are united in opposition to violence and its causes. I plan to be there; I hope you will be too.

Following is the full notice from the UTEC webpage:

Date:
Tue, 09/11/2012 – 5:00pm – 6:30pm

Community Response Event: Reclaim Your CommUNITY. Stop Shooting.
When: Tuesday September 11, 2012, 5pm
Where: Meeting in front of Lowell City Hall

The United Teen Equality Center, in partnership with other city leaders and neighborhood groups, will be holding a community response event related to the recent acts of violence in Lowell. In less than four weeks, nine people were shot in three separate incidents. This gathering is to make a statement that this kind of violence should never be accepted as normal.

With the message of “Reclaim Your CommUNITY. Stop Shooting,” this event will be held on Tuesday, September 11th starting at 5PM in front of Lowell City Hall, 375 Merrimack Street. After meeting at City Hall, we will begin walking in silence down Dutton Street and concluding at the Lord Overpass where a banner will be hung that reflects the theme of this event.

We urge each and every community member to join us this Tuesday, starting at 5pm at Lowell City Hall. As we commemorate the tragic events of 9/11, we also recall the widespread unity that resulted from such violence. Evident in the many long-standing partnerships between the City of Lowell and community-based agencies such as UTEC, we hope to emphasize such unity and remind everyone that such acts of violence will never be accepted or seen as normal in Lowell.