Presidential Super Bowl Ad Campaign Features Utah’s Trolley Square Shooting
Jan 31, 2020, 7:34 PM | Updated: 7:35 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – A new political advertisement for Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg features a Utah woman whose sister was killed in the Trolley Square shooting.
“My sister, Kirsten, was killed and my mom was permanently disabled in a mass shooting,” Kait Hinckley says during the 60-second video.
Hinckley’s 15-year-old sister was one of five people killed on Feb. 12, 2007, as she shopped for Valentine’s Day cards. Four other people were injured, including Hinckley’s mom, Carolyn Tuft.
The 18-year-old gunman was killed during a shootout with police.
“It makes me so angry that someone could do that,” Hinckley goes on to say in the advertisement.
The digital advertisement starts running online in Utah this weekend. It’s part of a larger advertising campaign featuring stories about gun violence from 12 states.
One of the commercials that will air during the Super Bowl this Sunday tells the story of a Texas mother who lost her son to gun violence, according to a press release from the Bloomberg campaign.
In an interview with KSL, Hinckley said it comforts her to talk about her sister’s life and keep her memory alive.
“I miss her a lot and I wish she was here,” she said. “She was spunky and a little bit feisty, but in a good way. She loved to play pranks on people.”
Since the tragedy, Hinckley helped start the Utah chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. She hopes to build common ground on what she knows can be a divisive issue.
“Our main goal here in Utah is suicide prevention,” she said.
Hinckley said she and her sister always wanted to make sure their lives stood for something bigger than themselves.
“This is the way I can give her life meaning is do the hard work and put the time in to make sure this doesn’t happen to other people,” Hinckley said.
