Back on September 29th, 2018, The Global Citizen Music Festival took place in New York City. The festival is all about change for a greater good, getting involved in politics, as well as ending world poverty. Many influential celebrities were featured, such as Cardi B, The Weekend, and Shawn Mendes. The concert is also known for its great food and merchandise. The day was off to a great start, people were dancing and singing along with their favorite artists, unaware of the chaos that would strike later in the night. Around 7:30pm, just after Cardi B finished her set, there was a short break before the next performer, The Weekend, took the stage. Out of nowhere, a loud sound, reminiscent of a gunshot, sent people running for the exits. Festival goers were pushing one another out of the way, getting down on the ground, and hiding behind barriers. A police officer warned the crowd that there was active shooter, and urged everyone to leave immediately. Suddenly, people were running for their lives.
Lilly B. Class of ‘22 was at The Global Citizens Festival and when asked about her experience, she said, “The night was going great, and I was having such a great time with my friends. Until my friend and I went to go get water and we saw a stampede of people running towards us, and ahead of us. My friend and I began to jog, not knowing what was happening. We were laughing at first and making jokes about what could be happening until we heard the police say that there is an active shooter. Then we ran for our lives. We were crying with fear and running faster than we ever have before, as we tried to call our parents. The fear became greater as we didn’t know where the four of our other friends were. We ran about a quarter of a mile before we got out of the park. While we were running, we didn’t know if our friends were okay, as we were not informed that a barrier fell down. Thankfully we were not in the sections of people in front of the stage, but rather closer to the exit.” Lilly B. ‘22. This experience for Lilly was one that she will never forget. The real question that comes out of this frightening situation is why do we automatically assume that a loud noise means danger. Due to the alarming amounts of shootings in 2018 alone, we have automatically began assume the worst when it comes in situations like these. “We live in a country where shootings are frequent, and we see them on the news almost monthly. You never think something like that could happen to you, and I am grateful that it didn’t.” Lilly B ‘22.
Whenever you are going to a large event, you should always have an emergency plan in case a dangerous situation were to occur.“My family and I had discussed that if there was an emergency at the concert what I would do, and who I would call. Even having the discussion, I felt like oh no, that’s never going to happen, it’s just a concert, there’s security. I didn’t take it seriously as I could, but If the shooting was real, I was prepared, and I would know what to do. After this horrific experience, I recommend that you and your family make a plan for when you’re alone and going to a concert or a large event such as this. It’s all fun and games until something happens and always remember that you have to be aware of your surroundings as something like this could happen.” Lilly B ‘22. Lilly was not the only one majorly impacted by this event. Many people were injured during the chaos, and some were even sent to the hospital. 15 minutes after the incident, police went on stage to reassure everyone that they were safe and there was no shooter. Global Citizen did not acknowledge the fact that many people were psychologically scarred by this terrifying incident. They downplayed the event by saying that at least everyone was safe, and they did not apologize, nor take responsibility for the traumatizing incident that scared many people.