Highland Park survivors and suburban mothers march on U.S. Capitol calling for assault weapons ban: ‘This is not political’

Hundreds of people, including survivors of the Highland Park Fourth of July shooting, are marching at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to pressure legislators to enact a federal ban on assault weapons.

As Highland Park and surrounding communities began to grieve in the wake of tragedy, Wilmette resident Kitty Brandtner sprung into action, founding a group called March Fourth with a mission of ensuring that the seven people killed in Highland Park are among the last Americans to lose their lives in mass shootings carried out with assault-style weapons.

On Tuesday night, Brandtner, fellow organizer Aubrey McCarthy and shooting survivors Emily Lieberman and Ivy Domont shared their plans and recapped a day filled by meetings with various members of the Senate and House of Representatives, including Illinois Democratic senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin.

“Today, over 100 members of communities that were impacted by mass shootings gathered together with organizers of March Fourth and we met with dozens of lawmakers,” Brandtner said. “I want to thank those lawmakers for taking our meetings, not only to listen to our stories, but on short notice, as I understand that it takes months typically to do that.

“It was a very … emotional day. It was a very important day,” she continued. “We are doing what we came here to do and that is to use our voice and demand a ban on federal assault weapons.”

Brandtner doesn’t want to wait until her family is affected by gun violence. She said she is speaking from “the cheap seats,” and she doesn’t care if her calls for a federal assault weapons ban, “sound like a broken record.”

The group is expecting between 500 and 600 people to march on Wednesday before more meetings with legislators.

“I’m here because it’s the right thing to do,” Brandtner said. “It’s going to take people, both who have directly and completely not been impacted by a mass shooting, to stand shoulder-to-shoulder to make change in this country.”

Lieberman and Domont, longtime Highland Park residents and best friends, attended the Fourth of July Parade while growing up, and were carrying on the tradition with their families when a gunman opened fire last week, killing seven.

“What was supposed to be a beautiful day to celebrate our country instead turned into a tragic, violent day in our idyllic town,” Lieberman said.

Lieberman said she was there with more than a dozen family members, while Domont was there with her parents and her three children under 5.

“We were about a half a block from gunshots,” Domont said. “Heard it loud and clear, over and over and over again. Pause. Over and over and over again, as we’re running, clutching our children, finding only a Dumpster on the side of a parking lot. Sitting ducks, just waiting, not knowing where gunshots were coming from.”

Organizers did not directly respond to submitted questions about whether they met with any Republican members of Congress.

Brandtner said “We will let you know” whether the group feels heard by legislators.

“We had a lot of meetings, we have a lot of meetings (Wednesday) and we have a very impactful rally,” she said.

March Fourth posted on its Instagram page that it met with one Republican Congressman, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.

But planning committee member Aubrey McCarthy noted in a post on her Instagram Story late Tuesday night that Toomey’s “STAFF met with us. He was NOT there.”

Regardless, she said the group is in the fight for the long haul.

“We’re not going to stop until we make Highland Park the last community affected by assault weapons,” McCarthy said.

Westphal, who said she worked on her first campaign as a high schooler in Highland Park and now runs her own political consulting and communication firm, said some legislators spoke with the group about actions they did, or had attempted to, take to prevent gun violence.

Such answers, however, won’t satisfy the group’s primary goal to prompt the passage of a national assault weapons ban.

“What I heard today on The Hill is that our legislators, our elected officials who are there to represent us, talking about things they are trying,” Westphal said. “I just feel really strongly that if all we’re doing is trying, then Congress is failing. We cannot just try. We have to do.”

Lieberman said that in order to ensure meaningful change, the group needs people around the country to step up and join its calls.

“Instead of staying at home grieving the tragedy my town just suffered, I am here in Washington D.C. fighting for change,” Lieberman said. “And we need everyone sitting at home to band with us and help create change. Speak up, scream at the top of your lungs like Kitty’s saying, and demand that we federally ban assault weapons starting today.”

Lieberman asked that March Fourth’s message be conveyed “with grace,” and implored the media and those watching around the country to, “be respectful of what we’ve been through.”

“This is not political,” Lieberman said. “It doesn’t matter what side of the aisle we are on. We are all humans. This is a basic human right. The ability to survive is a basic freedom that we are supposed to have in this country.”