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Downtown vigil held in Grand Rapids for Las Vegas shooting victims

Posted at 11:03 PM, Oct 05, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-05 23:03:05-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- A local man says despite the turnout, he's proud of the small vigil he organized to honor victims of theLas Vegas massacre.

"My abilities may be limited, but at least I can try to organize something like this," Ryan Geanette said. "Three people could have shown up and I would've been happy. Any positive is good energy."

The vigil took place Thursday evening on Calder Plaza in downtown Grand Rapids. Eight people mourned and prayed for the 58 people killed and more than 300 injured in Las Vegas last weekend.

Geanette saw the news reports Monday morning and began to think of what he could do to show his support for the people of Las Vegas.

"Grand Rapids is filled with good people, there are none like us in the world."

Geanette says he's filed to run for state senator in the 28th district as a Democrat. Republican Peter MacGregor currently has the seat.

Geanette says it would be an uphill battle, but if elected, he'll try to push for gun control legislation.

"We as a community understand what happened, and will try to prevent it from happening here," Geanette said. "What happened in Las Vegas can happen in any city in America."