Rapid Response Plan for Latinos in Crisis

Call for more information: Las Voces, Dr. Marty Ramirez, 402-467-3640 Ben Salazar, 402-731-6210

The June 28th mass shooting in Crete, Nebraska, where a racist individual shot numerous times at his Latino neighbors, injuring four adults and three children, revealed that even in the “good life” of Nebraska, there are people who harbor deep racial hatred that can explode into acts of violence. The reaction among Latino advocates to the shooting in Crete was immediate. Volunteers and advocates rushed to help with medical bills and legal issues, and community members helped to raise the money. Educators helped to provide mental health services to the traumatized children and their schoolmates.

The incident reminded Latino leaders that we must be vigilant and continue to update our policies and procedures to quickly and efficiently help our neighbors when tragedy strikes. We must ensure that resources and our organizational responses will quickly help the community in the event of incidents such as immigration raids, mass deportations, or active shooter events like those in Crete. With the community’s safety in mind, we need to have an active plan in place to move expeditiously in the event of future incidents.

Since the Crete mass shooting, members of Las Voces Nebraska, led by Dr. Marty Ramirez, Yolanda Nuncio, and Rebecca Gonzales, in collaboration with Chicano advocate Ben Salazar from Omaha, have been meeting to organize a statewide “rapid response” network of volunteers and advocates who can respond to help Spanish-speaking and other immigrants and their children who get caught up in the web of an immigration raid or other type of calamity like the Crete incident.

Las Voces will host a plenary meeting on Saturday, Sept. 7th, via Zoom, with panels of community representatives and legal, educational, and religious leaders from Omaha, Lincoln, and Grand Island. Our mission and goal is to organize a “rapid response” effort and establish it as a permanent fixture in Nebraska.

Las Voces Nebraska is a statewide organization that advocates and inspires positive change in the Latino/Hispanic community of Nebraska by addressing social justice issues through leadership, civic engagement, and collaboration.