Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke fought back tears as he discussed a fatal mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday as he cut short a campaign trip to head back to his hometown.
"I'm incredibly saddened and it's very hard to think about this. But I tell you El Paso is the strongest place in the world, this community is going to come together.
I'm going back there right now to be with my family and to be with my hometown," O'Rourke said at a union forum in Las Vegas.O'Rourke was campaigning at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees forum on Saturday when news broke of an active shooter near a mall on the east side of El Paso, which is part of O'Rourke's former congressional district, Texas' 16th.
Multiple people were killed and one person was in custody, police said. President Donald Trump has been briefed on the incident, according to the White House, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was heading to El Paso on Saturday afternoon, according to a statement.
"Any illusion that progress is inevitable or that the change that we need is going to come of it's own accord, shatter in moments like these and that it's upon every single one of us. There is no luxury in this democracy of sitting this one out," O'Rourke said.
"To the people of El Paso, any of you who are here today or who are out there right now we are thinking of you and we want to make this better going forward," O'Rourke continued.
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine