Georgetown Resident Tom Fadoul Joins Newtown Cyclists

Georgetown resident Tom Fadoul helped welcome a team of 26 cyclists from Sandy Hook Elementary School to the nation’s capital Tuesday morning in a statement against gun violence and a call for gun safety legislation.

The cyclists began the 400-mile journey from Newtown, Conn., to Washington on March 9 in memory of the 20 children and six adults killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School. On Tuesday, they joined members of the Virginia Tech Victims Cycling team in College Park, Md.

Fadoul, who lost a cousin, Reema Samaha, in the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings, and another cousin started the cycling team of the Virginia Tech Victims Family Outreach Foundation after the campus shootings. The foundation and the cycling team advocate for campus safety and social change.

Recently, the group hosted a dinner that involved some of the Sandy Hook cyclists, and the connection was made, Fadoul said.

“We offered to escort them on their last leg of the journey and ride with them today for their last 25 miles,” he said. “... We met them this morning in College Park, Md., and rode 25 miles to the Capitol and got to be with them when they finished their bike ride.... We were glad to be with them and kind of join forces, in a way.”

Fadoul, a McLean native, has been a cyclist for three years. For more information on the Sandy Hook ride, visit the group’s Facebook page.