Tucson’s Queer Community Mourns Shooting Victims Vincent Siqueiros and Cameron Capara
The two men were shot and killed at the city’s Venture-N gay bar shortly after midnight on Monday in what authorities say was a hate crime.
The LGBTQ+ community in Tucson, Arizona, is remembering two gay men who were shot and killed outside Venture-N, a queer bar in the city’s midtown, shortly after 12:30 a.m. on Monday.
Vincent Anthony Siqueiros, 42, and Cameron Davis Capara, 33, were both found dead at the scene at Venture-N, police said in a news release.
The suspected shooter then turned the gun on himself, local outlet Tucson.com reports. He later died at the hospital. Police are investigating the shooting as a hate crime.
“I am deeply saddened that another senseless loss of life has happened in our community,” Chief Monica Prieto said in a statement. “Bias-based crimes are especially heinous and have no place in our community.”
The shooter, 44-year-old Ousman Ceesay, had a list of LGBTQ+ businesses, according to Tucson Mayor Regina Romero.
Police said that Ceesay had approached Siqueiros and Capara before shooting them.
Authorites told Newsweek in a statement that Ceesay had recently moved to Tucson and did not know the victims. Police also found evidence during a search at his home that indicated he had acted alone.
Local LGBTQ+ news outlet LOOKOUT reports that Venture-N reopened Wednesday with several friends and family members of Capara and Siqueiros coming together to honor the men.
Many of those who spoke to LOOKOUT said they didn’t want to lose the venue as a safe space.
“It was our safe place. It still is,” one patron and friend of Siqueiros said. “We’re not going to f**king let them take that from us.”
On Wednesday night, hundreds gathered at the city’s Catalina Park for a vigil.
Kate Marquez, Siqueiros’ sister, told those that came out to remember to speak their names.
“Tonight we say their names: Vincent Anthony Siqueiros and Cameron Davis Capara,” she said, local news station KOLD reports. “Their lives mattered, their love mattered, their truth mattered, and so do the lives of millions of people around the world right now, wondering tonight whether being fully themselves could make them the next target. Every person here tonight has given Vincent something he’s spent much of his life searching for…the knowledge that he truly belonged, that he was seen, he was worthy, he was loved, not despite who he was, because of who he was.”
She added: “When he was asked to turn himself down, he turned himself up. When people questioned his worth, he stood taller. When people judged who he loved, he loved harder.”
Marquez said that the two should be remembered for what they stood for.
“Vincent and Cameron should be here tonight. Instead, they were taken from us because hatred was allowed to become violence, and that demands something of each and every one of us, because hate doesn’t begin with a gun; it begins much earlier,” she said.
Capara’s father, Jeff Capara, also addressed the crowd.
“He didn’t just talk about caring; he lived it. Cameron would take his last few dollars and buy someone in need a sandwich, or simply hand them the money and wish them well,” he said.
“I know that Cameron would want all of us to leave here tonight, tomorrow, and the days after to look for somebody different than you, look for a total stranger, offer them your hand, offer them a smile, and above all, if they’ll take it, offer them a hug,” Jeff Capara said.
