Samuel Rodriguez Responds to the Robb Elementary School Shooting

By Blessing Harper May 26, 2022 07:10 AM EDT

On May 24, we experienced the third-deadliest American school shooting after the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012. A 18-year-old Salvador Ramos opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, United States, killing nineteen students and two teachers, and wounding seventeen people. Earlier that day, he had shot and wounded his grandmother. He was shot and killed on the scene by a Border Patrol agent.

Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, issued the following statement mourning the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas:

"Broken people break people. A young man, mentally and spiritually broken, manifested an evil, extinguishing the light of our most innocent and vulnerable.

"It was not an inanimate object that took the lives of our fellow Americans. It was a young man filled with darkness. Any politicization of this tragedy can only be described as morally reprehensible. New laws will not push back darkness. Political rhetoric will not push back darkness. Divisive declarations will not push back darkness. Only light overcomes darkness.

"When we call upon the name of the Lord, we turn on the light. When we repent, we turn on the light. When we seek unity and recognize the image of God in each other, we turn on the light.

"It's time to be light. For the sake of our children and our children's children and those whose lives were cut short in Texas, let's honor them by being the light. Because every single time light stands next to darkness, light always wins."

Rodriguez is president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, executive producer of "Breakthrough" with 20th Century Fox and a bestselling author. CNN and FOX News have called him "the leader of the Hispanic Evangelical movement" and TIME magazine nominated him among the 100 most influential leaders in America. His newest book Your Mess, God's Miracle (Chosen Books) will be released in Spring 2023.

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