SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. — Hundreds of people have come together to demand change at the ninth annual Survivors Speak California conference in Sacramento on Monday.
The two-day conference, which is the largest annual gathering of crime victims in Sacramento every year, is happening at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center.
Community advocates and family members of loved ones lost to gun violence are hoping to find a place of healing here at this event but they're also here to spark change, urging lawmakers to support crime victims.
"I'm going to that Capitol today and I am going to fight for what I know and for what my other colleagues know is needed so that we can get in there and so we can do what's necessary to save our city," Stephanie Hatten, the mother of Antwane Burrise, who was killed by Stockton police back in 2020, said. "My aunts deserve to go to the store without fear of being robbed."
The event drew in dozens of local survivors of gun violence, sexual assault, domestic violence and other crimes from Stockton, who boarded a bus to head to the state Capitol together around 6:30 a.m.
"In order for us to be the best versions of ourselves, we have to be willing to sit down and do the hard, heart work on ourselves and go out into our communities and help them do the same thing," Kenya Reed, a spokesperson for the Stockton Owl Movement said.
They're calling for policies that address trauma, prioritize rehabilitation and tackle the root causes of crime, advocating for a number of bipartisan bills.
"We need help, they don't think about us, they forget about us, and it's important to the people to know that we don't forget about them, they're not here but we are the voices and we demand justice," Beatriz Barajas, the mother of Jessica Salcedo, who killed in 2016, said.
The first day of the conference will feature a lunch conversation with Attorney General Rob Bonta to talk about the state of public safety in California.
Hundreds of crime survivors will march on Tuesday from the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center to the state Capitol to demand greater investments in community-based crime prevention programs, before holding a rally and a vigil honoring lost loved ones.
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