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Activist groups call on Philadelphia to invest $100M in violence prevention
Activist groups are calling on the City of Philadelphia to invest $100 million in violence prevention.
PHILADELPHIA - With more than 500 people shot so far this year, community groups are calling on the City of Philadelphia to invest $100 million in violence prevention.
Police were on the 2500 block of Bancroft Street in North Philly Friday afternoon after someone shot a 50-year-old woman several times. She died on the scene. Police say the suspect in a newer model burgundy Chevy Impala got away.
"If you know someone lost to gun violence call out their name," said Movita Johnson-Harrell at a rally just hours before outside City Hall.
"We have an emergency on our hands and it can't wait any longer. It's a matter of life and death," said Khalil Edwards to the crowd gathered.
The groups are demanding full funding for grassroots community groups in the city that has long worked with young people and are actively working against gun violence.
"We need to give our younger generation a chance to grow. A chance to live physically and mentally," said Edwards.
Some held signs demanding change, while others like former State Rep. Johnson-Harrell held pictures of her sons. Both were murdered. She gave an emotional plea for an end to violence.
"Neither one of my sons were the intended target," she cried.
She says she's been on the front lines dedicated to fighting violence for over a decade and doesn't want any more families to feel what she and many others are living with.
"No family should have to suffer this. Our communities are traumatized. Our children are traumatized," she said.
The rally was held by Ceasefire PA. It's part of their "investing in safer communities’ mission."
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