Crown Heights officials, faith-based groups rally to end gun violence following Labor Day shootings
The event comes on the heels of a string of shootings since Labor Day weekend, including during the West Indian Day Parade, which the march will share a route with.
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Council members Brian Saunders and Crystal Hudson joined local gun violence prevention group Save Our Streets to march down Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights to call for accountability and an end to gun violence.
The event comes on the heels of a string of shootings since Labor Day weekend, including during the West Indian Day Parade, which the march shared a route with.
“We have to get to the point where we can have a parade we can have an outing and we do not have gun violence,” said Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
Advocates pushed for more city and state funding for community groups and intervention programs. They say this summer was the safest summer in Brooklyn since before the pandemic, but they’re calling for more to be done.
“We need these programs to be supported. We had hundreds of officers at this event and the shooting happened in front of those hundreds of officers. If you want to support our police, you cannot ask them to do everything. We need these groups to continue doing what they are doing because what they are doing has saved lives,” Williams added.
"Many of the groups out here today ECHO, Save Our Streets they work a lot often unpaid, and they are working in reducing crime, we are asking the city and administration to support these programs," said Council Member Crystal Hudson, adding that the area has systemic issues that they want to see addressed to help deter gun violence.
"We have a housing shortage, lack of access to the education, these contribute, and we are working to give this community the resources, so these things do not happen," Hudson said.
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