On Wednesday, survivors of gun violence gave testimony to a House Committee in Washington, D.C. It was intense and emotional and all of the people who spoke or sent their testimony showed a level of courage not seen from any of our elected officials across the country.
Kimberly and Felix Rubio are the parents of Alexandria Aniyah "Lexi" Rubio. Lexi was killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022. The Rubios spoke to the committee via video call, with Kimberly tearfully reading a statement about her late daughter. Mrs. Rubio has made it clear that her family, including young Lexi, believed in the need for more strict gun control laws, well before the terrible events that took Lexi from her family.
Kimberly Rubio has been vocal about her family’s pain and anguish. When Republican Gov. Greg Abbott invited the Rubios to meet with him, the couple refused, saying, "It's not what Lexi would have wanted," because Abbott was not well-liked by Lexi.
Lexi wanted to go to college in San Antonio, Texas, when she got older. She dreamed of attending St. Mary’s University on a softball scholarship, according to her mother. Lexi was a quiet girl who would speak up if she was firm in her conviction about something. Lexi was an excellent student.
She was great at math. She loved playing sports and fishing with her father. She liked to bake with her maternal great-grandmother. She would cuddle on the couch with her mother to read or watch television. She was 10 years old.
She is survived by her parents, of Uvalde; three brothers, Isaiah Rodriguez, David Falcon III, and Julian Rubio; two sisters, Kalisa Barboza and Jahleela Rubio; aunt, Analyse Mata and husband, Brandon Mendoza; cousins, Brandon Mendoza Jr., Derek Mendoza, and Mary-Claire Mendoza; maternal grandparents, Cindy Castillo and husband, Victor, and Ruben F. Mata and wife, Larisa, all of Uvalde; paternal grandparents, Connie and Luis “Chacho” Rubio of Uvalde; maternal great-grandparents, Margie and Julian Moreno and Mary and Ruben Mata; paternal great-grandparents, Oralia Orona and Trini Gutierrez and Jesse and Maxine Martinez; numerous great aunts and uncles, cousins, extended family, and her best friend, Sarah.
On Wednesday, Kimberly Rubio read a statement. She spoke about her children, all of whom attend Uvalde public schools, from elementary through high school. She spoke about the morning she dropped her daughter Lexi and son Julian off at Robb Elementary. She talked about how she and Lexi’s father Felix came back twice to the school to attend separate awards ceremonies for both of the kids. And Mrs. Rubio spoke about the last photo of her daughter, taken at 10:54 AM, with her teacher Arnulfo Reyes.
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She said that she had promised Lexi that they would all go out for ice cream to celebrate at the end of the school day. “We can still see her walking towards the exit doors. In the reel that keeps scrolling across my memories, she turns her head and smiles back at us to acknowledge my promise, and then we left. I left my daughter at that school. The decision will haunt me for the rest of my life.”
Rubio then talked about how the terrible, tragic event unfolded. The rush to hospitals, to schools, to the meet-up points where she waited in vain for Lexi to appear. She talked about running barefoot for more than a mile back to the school in the hopes of finding Lexi.
The Rubios demanded that Congress do something. “Today we stand for Lexi and as her voice, we demand action. We seek a ban on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines. We understand that for some reason, to some people, to people with money, to people who fund political campaigns, that guns are more important than children. So a this moment we ask for progress. We seek to raise the age to purchase these weapons from 18 to 21 years of age. We seek red flag laws, and stronger background checks. We also want to repeal gun manufacturers’ liability immunity.”
Kimberly Rubio spoke about what Lexi would have been. How much better a place our world would have been had Lexi’s fire remained lit. Overwhelmed with emotion by the end of her statement, Rubio reminded everyone that we are everyone. We are all Kimberly, Felix, and Lexi. We are her siblings and her parents, and her friends. Out-of-control gun violence affects all of us. “Somewhere out there, there's a mom listening to our testimony, thinking I can't even imagine their pain, not knowing that our reality will one day be hers unless we act now,” Rubio said.
She had the courage to speak it, and the very least we can do is honor the memory of her lost Lexi and do something.
We talk to gun control advocate and executive director of Guns Down America, Igor Volsky on Daily Kos' The Brief podcast
