By sunset, the memorial at Venture-N had grown from just a couple of candles to an entire section of the wall lined with flowers, candles and offerings, with people coming to pay their respects to Cameron Davis Capara and Vincent Anthony Siqueiros. They had been fatally shot at the LGBTQ+ neighborhood bar late in the night before, in a case which is being classified as a hate-related incident.
Alli and Brandon Lee pulled into the parking lot with their two daughters. They came to see the memorial: two framed photographs of Capara and Siqueiros surrounded by flowers, candles and a couple of beer cans people had left as an offering. But they also came to check on Capara’s truck, which they’d seen in the background of news clips and photographs. It was still parked out front next to the memorial.
“Look, it’s your Uncle Cam,” Alli said to her one-year-old daughter, squatting down in front of the memorial and pointing at his photo.
Alli was Capara’s best friend of over a decade and had been his roommate for several years. She said she’d seen him grow into himself throughout the years, and when his mother called her early Monday morning to give her the news of his death, she was in disbelief. He was like a brother to her, she said, and the uncle to her two daughters.
“He brought light to the things that people didn’t want to face,” she said. “He showed a light on hurt and pushed for change. He was a light. He was just full of life and love and smiling and he just wanted to get to know people and just shine a light.”
Capara was known for his presence at protests and demonstrations, often wearing a flak jacket with the words “Press” written across it, camera in hand and always in the mix documenting Tucson’s dissent up close.
“I was always so proud of Cameron being there out on the streets at every protest and rally and standing up for those that were the victims of hate,” Alli said. “He would never just bury his head in the sand or live with the duality. He was so full of empathy and lived without hypocrisy”
She said that Capara had mentioned Siqueiros to her as friends that had recently started to reconnect, something she mentions he was very happy about.
“They were genuinely who they were,” said Brian King, a regular at Venture-N who knew both men. “They didn’t try to be anybody else, they didn’t conform, they didn’t kiss ass. They liked who they were and that’s why people liked them, because they were comfortable in their skins — you know when somebody isn’t, especially in a place like this.”
A driver for Uber, King would often go to the neighborhood bar to stretch his legs and have a club soda. That’s where he met Siqueiros about a year and a half ago. He said that “Vinny —” as many fondly called him —was a fixture in the place, and remembers the first time meeting him.
“I was wondering where he worked because he was buying a lot of people drinks and drinking a lot, and I thought he reminds me of me a while ago when I was his age,” King said. “I thought he was funny and just well-meaning. He didn’t have anything bad to say about anybody — I mean, he would, but in the funny way gays do.”
He adds that Capara was a new regular, but he’d quickly grown fond of him. They even had plans to mobilize people to go vote: Capara would round people up and King would drive them to the polls on election day.
“This has to motivate us,” King said. “If you didn’t feel motivated before, if you cared about these guys, if you even knew these guys, you want to be involved now to do whatever it takes to stop this from happening again. And if it does, let them be held accountable. (People) have to use their voices and they have to vote.”
Capara and Siqueiros had been in the parking lot of Venture-N when they were confronted by Ousman Ceesay. Ceesay fatally shot both men and then turned the gun on himself, according to authorities. Both men were pronounced dead on the scene and Ceesay was taken to the hospital where he later died. Investigators found a note on Ceesay with other LGBTQ+-friendly businesses listed.
“I don’t know what accountability honestly looks like unless our community comes together to take care of each other,” Lee said. “And anybody who stands in the way of policies that could change to make that easier, that’s definitely not accountability.”
Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva called attention to the shooting on Capitol Hill.
“When that hate is combined with easy access to firearms, the consequences can be deadly,” she said. “I am sick and tired of Congress refusing to lift a finger to protect our communities while, every day, dozens of people are shot and killed across the country. It does not have to be this way. The House of Representatives is returning to session this week, and our first action should be passing common-sense gun safety reforms that we know can save lives.”
Lee and Ochs gave Capara’s truck a teary-eyed kiss as they left the memorial.
A candlelight vigil will be held at Catalina Park, 941 N. 4th Avenue on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.