Biden makes third official CT visit as president
President Joe Biden visited Connecticut to mark one year since the passage of a federal law aimed at curbing gun violence.
“Today, I'm headed to Connecticut to discuss the actions we've taken to confront the scourge of gun violence in America – and the work that lies ahead,” Biden tweeted Friday.
“We are not finished.”
A celebration of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was held at the University of Hartford Friday, where various state officials and advocates for gun safety met in celebration of the bill that ended 30 years of deadlock on federal gun control.
It’s the inaugural National Safer Communities Summit and it was organized by Connecticut's Democratic Senator Chris Murphy.
According to the White House, Biden was scheduled to stop in Greenwich later Friday for a campaign event.
Biden last visited the Constitution State in 2021. That year, he delivered a commencement address in New London to the graduating cadets of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy; later that year, he spoke at the Dodd Center for Human Rights at UConn in Storrs.
Murphy: ‘Absolutely confident’ Congress will enact more gun safety measures
Murphy spoke several times Friday to hundreds of people at his summit and expressed confidence over what has been done to address gun violence – and what will be done.
During a panel discussion featuring Murphy, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, and Rep. Lucy McBath, a Democrat from Georgia, Murphy equated last year’s gun safety breakthrough to paradigm shifts in other movements like civil rights and marriage equality, going as far to say he’s “absolutely confident” Congress will eventually pass an assault weapons ban and universal background checks.
“There is a moment where all of a sudden the change agents have the power,” Murphy told the crowd gathered inside the University of Hartford’s Lincoln Theater. “I just have no question that in the next several Congresses – whether it’s this year or not – we are going to pass everything we’ve been talking about here today, including an assault weapons ban, including universal background checks.”
Among those who addressed spectators Friday: Gov. Ned Lamont, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, and former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. A victim of gun violence, Giffords established in 2013 a gun violence prevention organization called Giffords. The organization was founded shortly after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. Parents of children killed in the December 2012 shooting also addressed the summit. Nicole Hockley, co-founder of Sandy Hook Promise, lost her son Dylan in the shooting. She spoke about the need for gun violence prevention beyond school shooting drills: that students and teachers work to recognize behaviors that may signify that someone is in crisis.
“Since Sandy Hook, there’s been a huge focus on being prepared for a school shooting – practicing for what to need to do if something’s going to happen,” Hockley said Friday. “That is a smaller part of the consideration. What we need to be more focused on is prevention: How do we stop these acts from happening in the first place.”
Nelba Márquez-Greene, the mother of Ana, also spoke at the summit. Ana was also killed in the Sandy Hook shooting. Márquez-Greene, flanked by her husband Jimmy and her son Isaiah, a survivor of the shooting, called for support for survivors and grievers, for "respectful engagement and open tables."
“Our grief is here and it fills this room, but it does not demand we eclipse determination or joy," Márquez-Greene told the crowd. "It calls us to love and should call us to justice.”
Márquez-Greene also led a moment of silence at the event.
Arrest made in defacement of Hartford Black Lives Matter Mural
Last weekend, a mural dedicated in 2020 to the Black Lives Matter movement was defaced with a swastika and a white supremacist message.
And on Thursday, Hartford Police arrested a man suspected of scrawling the messages of hate on the mural.
Scott Franklin, 36, faces three charges, including third-degree intimidation based on bigotry or bias.
Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin issued a statement after Franklin was arrested, saying police did “tremendous work to identify and apprehend the person responsible for this hate crime so quickly,”
“There's no place for that kind of hate in Hartford, and the person responsible needs to be held accountable,” Bronin said Thursday.
Artists have already gathered to repaint the mural.
Frankie & Johnny premieres Fridays at 4:44 p.m. during All Things Considered on Connecticut Public Radio. Connecticut Public Radio’s Eric Aasen, Matt Dwyer, Mark Mirko, Chris Polansky, and Patrick Skahill contributed to this report.
