“Shots fired, alert required!” was yelled down South Grant Street during a Friday afternoon march in response to an Oct.13 shooting.
About 20 community members and students gathered at 422 S. Grant St., nicknamed the Brickhouse. They protested the lack of an IU-Notify alert issued following the Oct. 13 shooting and IU asking the tenants of the residence to terminate their lease.
Information about the protest was shared on social media, such as Instagram.
Grant Mitchell, an IU senior and resident of the Brickhouse, said he and his roommates were not involved in organizing the protest but said it is important. He said the way IU handled the situation needs to be talked about.
While the purpose of the protest was calling for alert reform and justice for Mitchell and his roommates, Mitchell said people should not lose sight of the fact that the real victims of the situation are the people who were shot.
“We really want people to know that while we think we’re being mistreated, we do understand that there are people who are suffering a lot worse than us right now,” Mitchell said.
IU student Anna Schmeltz attended the protest. The 20-year-old said she felt unsafe after the shooting because she lives just a few blocks from the crime scene, and she did not receive any notifications of the incident from IU.
“I was literally walking to events around my house that same night,” Schmeltz said. “I could’ve walked here and not had a single clue.”
Mitchell said he believes IU is more worried about its own interests than the safety of its students.
“On the one hand IU said that they didn’t send out a message because it didn’t take place on IU property,” Mitchell said. “And now we’re being kicked out of our house because they’ve completely switched and said that it does take place on our property.”
The Brickhouse acts as a popular space for local artists and bands to perform, as well as other events.
“These are the people that have opened their house to all of Bloomington to have a safe space to enjoy live music and create opportunities that they wouldn't get necessarily anywhere else,” the protest’s organizer Alex Johnson said.
The protesters chanted, raised their signs and spoke to passersby at Sample Gates before moving to People’s Park.
“We’re here for peace, and we’re here to keep the music scene alive and keep these people in a home, and not just leave them stranded,” Johnson said.
The Bloomington community took to social media in response to the news of the tenants being asked to terminate their lease following the shooting.
A petition in support of alerts for active shooters off campus and the renters of the Brickhouse was created Friday.
Gus Gonzalez, guitarist and vocalist of the Bloomington-based band Flower Mouth, created the petition to Indiana University. In two days, the petition has received over 2,000 signatures.
Gonzalez said he created the petition because of how important the issue is to him. He said he has played more than 10 shows at the Brickhouse with his band.
“It’s a lot more than a few parties happening every now and then with bands playing in the basement,” Gonzalez said. “It’s a community.”
Gonzalez outlined the goals of the petition as demanding a change in the IU-Notify alert policy and justice for the tenants of the IU off-campus rental property.
“I would like there to be no question in any students’ mind that whether they’re on or off campus, they’ll be warned of a dangerous situation,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said he wants to see IU expand and clarify the criteria for active shooter and emergency situation alerts. He said he'd also like to see IU address its decision to not issue an IU-Notify alert in further detail.
“I’m so glad that people are shining a light on this mistreatment,” Mitchell said. “I hope it’ll change the way IU is dealing with this situation and hopefully the way they deal with situations in the future.”
