Former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords returned to Denver to encourage victims of gun violence with a single message to “be your best,” as she spoke alongside Denver Mayor Mike Johnston for a community violence panel held in west Denver on Friday, September 26.
“Be a leader. Set an example. Be passionate. Be courageous. Be your best,” Giffords said as a message to gun violence victims. Because of brain damage she suffered from a gunshot wound to the head by a schizophrenic gunman in 2011, Giffords’s speech is limited, and she speaks in short, choppy sentences.
Aside from a short introduction, Giffords spoke only one line in response to questions. The panel took place at the Life-Line Colorado Youth Empowerment Center, 1240 West Bayaud Avenue, in front of other gun safety and violence prevention advocates and a handful of state lawmakers.
Giffords was talking to constituents during a public event in southern Arizona when she was shot more than a decade ago. The resulting paralysis to most of her body forced her out of politics, but she has since built a public profile as an advocate for gun violence victims. Her husband, Mark Kelly, was elected as a U.S. Senator for Arizona in 2020.
The former congresswoman founded the Giffords Center for Violence Intervention in 2022 to secure funding and advocate for local nonprofits that prevent violence in underserved communities. In 2019, she came to Denver to launch the Colorado Gun Owners for Safety Coalition, an advocacy and education group, and in 2023 to launch a tour to help gun violence victims recover from trauma.
Giffords’s visit came the same week that a detainee at a Dallas ICE detention facility was shot and killed in what federal law enforcement is calling a botched “targeted attack” against ICE agents. Two weeks ago, conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was shot during a college campus debate one day before he was supposed to come to Colorado. That same day, there was a shooting at Evegreen High School in Colorado that left multiple people wounded, including one student still in critical condition; the shooter, a student at the school, was killed.
Colorado State Representative Javier Mabrey, a Democrat representing southwest Denver, was also on the panel. He made one of the few comments about an “alarming” rise in political violence.
“We are in really scary times in this country with rising political violence,” Mabrey said. “It’s critical we continue to perform democracy, and [having a discussion] is what performing democracy looks like.”
Mabrey focused more on advocating against a “tough on crime” approach, especially within the Democratic Party. He warned against letting concerns about gun violence lead to increased policing, which he believes would contribute to mass incarceration.
“People don’t want to be seen as being soft on crime,” Mabrey said. “We need leadership that is courageous and goes to voters to tell them the truth about how mass incarceration is failing, and not cave on criminal justice reform just because Donald Trump is going to call them ‘soft on crime.’”
Mayor Johnston: Denver’s Much Safer This Year
Mayor Johnston welcomed Giffords before making his case that Denver is dramatically safer than it was a year ago. According to the mayor, Denver has seen “the largest reduction in homicide of any big city in America.” He claimed Denver’s homicide rate has dropped by half this year compared to last.
According to the Denver Police Department crime dashboard, the city saw 55 murders from January 1 to September 26, while this year has 33 murders recorded so far, which is about a 40 percent decline. The overall violent crime tally in Denver dropped by 200 cases the same year-to-date period, with 4,608 such cases last year and 4,408 so far this year, which is about a 4 percent dip.
Johnston credited the reduction to the city’s strategy of concentrating on violent crime prevention in seven parts of Denver that are the most dangerous based on DPD data. Those areas included the residences around Paco Sanchez Park in West Colfax, the intersections of East Colfax Avenue and Verbena Street, and the neighborhoods around the former Cedar Run Apartments, which was the site of a raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in February.
“Five of those neighborhoods, of the seven, had a 100 percent reduction in violent crime,” Johnston said during the panel. “Done the right way, we can build communities and keep our city safe.”
Johnston touted the “Place Network Investigation” strategy during town halls in 2024. The City Council District representing Paco Sanchez Park received a $250,000 grant from DPD in late 2024 to address specific concerns raised in those meetings, like the need for more street lighting or fencing around the parks and trails.
According to Johnston, the city’s public safety philosophy is to tackle crime through multiple departments rather than just DPD. However, he recently promised Central Park residents more policing to battle retail theft, and the Place Network Investigation strategy includes more patrols in the seven targeted areas.
“Violence is not just a public safety issue. It’s an economic development issue, a youth development issue, a public transportation and infrastructure issue,” Johnston said. “It’s how we work with all our city departments.”