Dr. Brian Williams was raised in a family with a long history of military service, and he’s made the values of patriotism, service, and justice core tenets of his life. It was these values that motivated him to graduate from the United States Air Force Academy with honors and serve our country as an aeronautical engineer, later becoming a Harvard-trained trauma surgeon who chose to work in underserved communities in places like Dallas, Atlanta, and Chicago. 

In his military service and as a doctor, Dr. Williams has witnessed the deadly human toll gun violence has on individuals and on our communities firsthand. In fact, in July 2016, Dr. Williams was the trauma surgeon who led the team that treated several Dallas police officers ambushed by a sniper at a peaceful protest. Three officers died from their wounds and Dr. Williams did what he had done so many times before: He changed out of his bloody scrubs and went to the waiting room to tell the families they’d never see their loved ones again. After the events of that night, Dr. Williams began to seek out ways to create change outside of the operating room. He was appointed to serve as chair of the Dallas Citizens Police Review Board, where he helped to bridge the divide between police officers and the community. Later, he took his fight for change to Washington DC, where he worked as an advocate and policy advisor for Senator Chris Murphy and helped write and pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act—the most significant piece of gun safety legislation to be signed into law in a generation. 

Now, he’s running for Congress to build on the progress we’ve made on this issue over the last decade. In office, Dr. Williams will be a champion for commonsense gun safety measures like expanding background checks to all gun sales, raising the minimum age to purchase a weapon, and reinstating the assault weapons ban. He knows we must do more to ensure that deadly weapons don’t fall into the hands of domestic abusers, and he’s prepared to properly fund lifesaving community violence intervention programs across the country. We must send him to Capitol Hill this fall—we know his lived experience will be invaluable in helping build a safer future for the next generation.

We are proud to award Brian Williams the GIFFORDS Champion Award and endorse him for the US House of Representatives.