Voices Lost to Gun Violence Return to Demand Change from American Lawmakers

Guns are now the leading cause of death for children for the third year in a row, sparing almost no neighbourhood, and falling particularly hard on Black and brown communities. And yet, politicians continue to throw up their 'thoughts and prayers' as excuses. Today, parents, survivors, and advocates for gun safety will launch The Shotline - an automated platform and campaign that uses AI technology to recreate the voices of innocent victims lost to acts of gun violence to tell the harrowing details of how they were killed in their own voice. Each victim’s personal message will be sent as a call directly to lawmakers again and again, and force our leaders to confront the toll of their inaction.

Led by Change the Ref and March for Our Lives, The Shotline uses audio provided by victims’ families and deep machine learning to create a computerized version of each victim. Last year more than 40,000 people lost their lives to guns, but they will not be silenced. Lawmakers will receive detailed calls from victims like Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School senior, Joaquin Oliver, saying:

“Hello, I’m Joaquin Oliver. Six years ago, I was a senior at Parkland. Many students and teachers were murdered on Valentine’s Day that year by a person using an AR-15, but you don’t care. You never did. It’s been six years and you’ve done nothing. Not a thing to stop all the shootings that have happened since. 

The thing is, I died that day in Parkland. My body was destroyed by a weapon of war. I’m back today because my parents used AI to recreate my voice to call you. Other victims like me will be calling too, again and again, to demand action. How many calls will it take for you to care? How many dead voices will you hear before you finally listen? Every day your inaction creates more voice. If you fail to act now, we’ll find somebody who will.” 

10-year-old Uziyah “Uzi” Garcia, will also make calls with his story, saying:

“Hi! This is Uzi Garcia. I love video games, telling jokes and making my friends laugh, and jumping on the trampoline with my family. I’m a 4th grader at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Or at least I was, when a man with an AR-15 came into my school and killed 18 of my classmates, two teachers and me. 

That was almost two years ago. Nothing has changed. Even more shootings have happened. That's why my family recreated my voice using AI to call you today and demand a change. You’ll be getting more calls, from others like me, too. I used to love helping people. What is it going to take for you to help make sure violence like this stops happening?”

At launch, representatives will receive initial direct calls from:

• Uziyah Garcia - 10-year-old killed alongside 18 classmates and two teachers in the Uvalde school shooting at Robb Elementary School by a man with an AR-15. 
• Joaquin Oliver - 17-year-old shot and killed by an AR-15 during a Feb. 14th, 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL.
• Ethan Song - 15-year-old killed by a gun left unsecured at a friend’s house.
• Jaycee Webster - 20-year-old shot and killed in his bedroom by a lone gunman.
• Mike Baughan - killed himself with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head using a gun he was able to purchase in only 15 minutes.
• Akilah Dasilva - 23-year-old killed by a man with AR-15 in a Waffle House mass shooting.

Developed in partnership with MullenLowe, the campaign will also invite the public to share their own stories with the platform, to send AI-generated messages from other victims across the country.

CTR founders Manny and Patricia Oliver, parents of Parkland shooting victim Joaquin Oliver, with members of March For Our Lives, will launch The Shotline campaign in a rally outside of The Capitol on Feb. 14th, six years to the day after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Youth activists and families of gun violence victims are returning to Washington D.C, to continue demanding immediate action from the Biden administration and state lawmakers.

"We can all hear our kids' voices in our heads,” added Mike Song, father of Ethan Song. “Why shouldn't lawmakers have to hear them too?"

The Shotline Platform includes a searchable database of public contact information for state representatives, providing people easy access to call lawmakers directly to voice their opinions. The Shotline also provides a form for people to submit lost loved ones to be a voice on the platform. Each new submission will enter a verification process to confirm identities and approval to recreate each victims’ story.