The last Gilroy Garlic Festival in 2019 ended in a stunning and violent tragedy, when a lone teenaged gunman killed three people, and injured 17 others at Christmas Hill Park in Gilroy.
Victims' attorney plans to appeal the tentative ruling in the case stemming from the July 28, 2019 mass shooting at the festival that resulted in four deaths, including the shooter, and injuries to 17.
Gilroy will be developing a new design for a memorial at the city park where a teen armed with an automatic rifle shooter shot and three and wounded 17 on the last day of the Gilroy Garlic Festival in 2019, one that will better withstand the elements for years to come.
Critics say that despite threats of big insurance premiums in the wake of a 2019 mass shooting, Gilroy city officials pulled the plug too early on the Gilroy Garlic Festival after more than four decades.
Ken Christopher, executive vice president of Christopher Ranch and the grandson of Gilroy Garlic Festival co-founder Don Christopher, suggested the San Joaquin County group is trying to use the publicity of the demise of the Gilroy festival to its own advantage.
World-renowned food festival, plagued by the Covid-19 pandemic, continuing lawsuits over the 2019 mass shooting, financial losses and new insurance requirements by the City of Gilroy, will be dramatically scaled back this year and in years ahead.
The DA’s Office is also asking the community to join the effort by performing an act of kindness and sharing it with us on Facebook and Instagram using the hashtags #GilroyKind and #KindnessIsStrong.
Living in a country in which so many people are victims of gun violence is not normal. Until we can live free of those fears, we still have work to do.