As you’re aware by now, the worst mass school shooting in a decade went down earlier this week. Ulvade, Texas. At least 19 children were killed by an 18-year-old gunman who had no difficulty purchasing two assault rifles (few obstacles exist in Texas), and this has led to plenty of political clashes already, given that it’s an unavoidably political issue. The GOP lawmakers won’t step away from their NRA donations, and as Stephen King has pointed out, change will only occur if they leave office.
On a personal level, however, the United States is devastated, and that includes the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle. Only two days after the shooting, she’s surfaced in Uvalde, and as the above Getty photo shows, she left flowers at the makeshift memorial that’s been set up outside the county courthouse. Via PEOPLE:
Meghan, who lives in California with her husband Prince Harry and their two young children, was spotted laying white flowers with a purple ribbon at a memorial outside Uvalde County Courthouse. She then knelt down and hung her head at the cross for 10-year-old victim Uziyah Garcia.
Meghan took the trip in a personal capacity as a mother, to offer her condolences and support in person to a community experiencing unimaginable grief, according to a spokesperson for the Duchess of Sussex.
Meghan didn’t arrive with a visible entourage, and she was dressed down and wearing a baseball cap. As Buzzfeed News further reports, Meghan didn’t identify herself to a nearby blood drive volunteer (nor did they realize who she was until after she departed) when she “quietly dropped by the community center’s kitchen” and left giant crates of sandwiches and desserts for those who donated blood. The Texas Tribune has detailed the ongoing drive, and they’re (fortunately) booked up for weeks, but all blood centers could always use more donors, especially considering the shortages of the pandemic.
(Via PEOPLE, Buzzfeed News & Texas Tribune)