Madeleine Hordinski

In the absence of political change, victims and families are coming together to launch multimillion-dollar lawsuits

Writing by Abené Clayton

Dion Green survived a mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, in 2019. When a gunman opened fire in Dayton’s arts and entertainment district just over five years ago, nine people, including Green’s father, Derrick Fudge, were killed and dozens more were injured. Green’s father died in his arms that night. Green went on to establish the Fudge Foundation, through which he speaks to youth about the harms caused by gun violence, supports crime victims and travels to communities that have been similarly rocked by mass shootings.

Since his father’s death, Green has helped reform the way victim compensation is doled out and has railed against lax gun policies like permitless carry. He said that he never wanted to be involved in a lawsuit, but he began to see it as a way to get high-capacity drum magazines off the streets – like the 100-round drum the shooter used to kill his father. So he called around to find someone who would represent him and other families in a lawsuit. Read the rest of the story here.