Gable to speak at Crime Victims’ Rights Awareness event in Iowa City

IOWA CITY — Famed wrestler and coach Dan Gable will be a featured speaker at an event designed to raise awareness about the victims of crimes and services available to them.

Gable will talk about the murder of his sister at the event April 22. Linda Sorenson, a retired victim/witness coordinator for the Sixth Judicial District, also will talk about her daughter's death.

Iowa City Police Lt. Mike Brotherton said the goal is to 'provide a healthy environment to talk about issues publicly and then privately if you choose to.'

He also hopes participants will walk away with information that could aid them if they become a crime victim.

'If something traumatic happens to you, you almost go into shock,' Brotherton said. 'It's almost like you've been punched in the gut. When that happens, you have a tendency to lose your rationalization. What do I do? You don't really know.'

The event is part of National Crime Victims' Rights Awareness week and was funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Brotherton said he wrote the grant and then collaborated with the Johnson County Attorney's Office, Rape Victim Advocacy Program and Johnson County Sexual Assault Response Team to plan the event. A majority of the money went to advertising, Brotherton said.

The event, which takes place from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the Robert A. Lee Recreation Center, will bring together numerous groups and community organizations that will offer information on how they can help crime victims and other survivors.

'They'll have a table set up, passing out brochures and educating people about the services they can offer,' he said.

The event will culminate with speeches from Gable and Sorenson. Gable has said he used his sister's death to fuel his passion for wrestling. The wrestling legend lost only one match during his collegiate career at Iowa State University, won the gold medal in the 1972 Olympics without surrendering a point and later became of one the most successful coaches in U.S. collegiate history.

'What is special and significant about what both of these individuals are going to talk about is what they felt like when it happened,' Brotherton said of the crimes that touched their lives. 'What happened afterward, how their life was turned upside down and how they coped with it and what they did to move it forward. ... It can be inspiration for others.'

Brotherton said the event is for victims of all crime, not just those involving loss of life. He noted the turmoil college students can experience if their computer is stolen and they lose a semester's worth of work.

He hopes the event helps anyone struggling with being the victim of a crime.

'You don't start the healing process until you start communicating what took place,' Brotherton said. 'It can be like lifting a burden.'

If You Go

What: National Crime Victims' Rights Awareness event featuring Dan Gable

When: 5 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Robert A. Lee Recreation Center, 220 S. Gilbert St., Iowa City