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“One year ago, we were shaken to our core. We were numb with shock and disbelief in the days that followed. We went through waves of grief and fear. Sadness and anger have been a unifying thread, but in the face of adversity, we continue to move forward with compassion, determination and purpose,” Rotering said.

“We will never forget what happened here. But we, Highland Park, will not be defined by it,” she said. “We come together today, united in remembrance and heartbreak — but also refusing to let fear and hatred win.”

The mayor’s statement was followed by remarks from Catholic, Presbyterian and Reform Jewish clergy, along with a poem from the city’s first poet laureate.

Rabbi Ike Serotta, of Congregation Makom Solel Lakeside, recognized those who could not be at the ceremony, including those who remain unable to face the crowd and relive the trauma of that day.

“Seventy-five people were killed or injured by guns, just in Chicago, over Juneteenth weekend,” Serotta said.

“Our state has passed but not yet fully enacted better gun laws — and the work and support of this community and its leaders helped make that happen,” he said. “Still, death and injury opens the sores for us anew, and we feel for our community and for all the communities around our country suffering as we do.”

According to Chicago police, 57 people were shot, eight fatally, in the city over the 2023 holiday weekend. Of those, two people were fatally shot and 18 others were wounded on the 4th of July itself. That does not include the mass shooting that took place shortly before 5 a.m. on July 5, where five people were shot, one fatally, at a party in the Englewood neighborhood.

In Highland Park, there were four homicides between October 1996 and June 2003 — and not a single homicide in the city for the next 19 years.

In the year since the Highland Park shooting, there were 54 mass shootings in Illinois, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shootings as an incident in which four people are shot, not including the shooter.

Planning for the community walk was developed through a trauma-informed approach and discussions with the community, according to city officials.

“Nobody wanted a parade. It was inappropriate, but it was important for us to say that evil doesn’t win,” Rotering told reporters ahead of the ceremony. “And this is our parade route, and this is our community that we are taking back.”

The walk was led by members of the Highland Park City Council, along with other local, state and federal elected officials and dignitaries.

There were no floats, no spectators and strict security.

Families and friends walked together under the eyes of a police drone and auxiliary out-of-town police officers.

Some snapped photos in front of large banners emblazoned with “Together HP Unidos” and “We are Highland Park” in front of the business from whose roof the shooter fired, which is now under new ownership and a (partially) new roof.

Highland Park officials adopted language emphasizing unity and together this year after moving away from using the phrase “Highland Park Strong” or “Fuerza Highland Park” on the advice of the Justice Department crime victim’ experts, according to city staff.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker attended Tuesday’s event, along with both of the state’s U.S. senators and the local congressman, a Highland Park resident.

“There’s a tremendous about of strength in this community. There’s a reason why there’s signs all over the city that say, ‘Highland Park Strong,’ and ‘We are Highland Park,'” Pritzker said. “This is a tremendously wonderful community, and this community remembers all the other communities that suffer from gun violence.”

Pritzker credited advocacy from members of the Highland Park community for the passage of the Protect Illinois Communities Act, which bans certain semiautomatic firearms and magazines.

The bill, which is currently facing state and federal court challenges, was sponsored by the area’s state representative, a resident of neighboring Deerfield. And local activists have made repeated trips to Washington, D.C., to push for a restoration of the federal assault weapons ban, which expired nearly two decades ago.

Speaking to reporters at the community picnic at Sunset Woods, the governor said he was heartened by questioning by federal judges on a 7th Circuit Appeals Court panel during oral arguments last week.

The judges were hearing a challenge to gun regulations by a suburban firearms dealer called Bevis v. City of Naperville and five other consolidated cases.

Pritzker took issue with arguments advanced by attorneys for firearm sellers and buyers, who insist an opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas in a major gun case last year protects the right to own weapons that are in common use.

“People who were advocating for semiautomatic weapons were saying, ‘Gee, everybody’s got one, and so we can’t ban them,'” Pritzker said. “Well, that’s ridiculous. If everybody had missile launchers, we shouldn’t ban missile launchers?”

Tuesday evening, Gary Sinise and his Lt. Dan Band performed a concert at Wolters Field, with a drone show replacing the traditional fireworks display.

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