Activists march in the wake of more gun violence, urge money for anti-violence groups

Activists from all over Philadelphia marched through the city’s streets Monday afternoon to protest gun violence and urge local authorities to increase funding for organizations that fight it.

The march came in response to a shooting on Thursday in the North Philadelphia community of Strawberry Mansion, near Temple University, where seven people were wounded, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

It’s also been about a week since Temple Police Officer Christopher Fitzgerald was shot to death. In a separate incident last week, someone shot two teens while they were walking home from school in Philadelphia.

Frontline Dads leader Reuben Jones organized the event, calling for more funding to address the epidemic of gun violence plaguing Philadelphia. There have been 51 shooting-related fatalities this year and 210 shooting injuries.

“Today we assemble as a community, as a collective, to demonstrate our solidarity to end the gun violence in Philadelphia,” said Jones, the nonprofit’s executive director, according to The Inquirer. “We’re standing as a community saying, ‘We ain’t taking it anymore.'”

Jones and other community activists noted that the additional funding to anti-violence organizations would help them undertake various projects, including installing better lighting in impacted neighborhoods, cleaning vacant lots and clearing debris. 

Larry Krasner, the district attorney for Philadelphia, and Helen Gym, a contender for mayor and former councilwoman, both spoke at the news conference held in front of the Blues Babe Foundation, which houses Frontline Dads’ headquarters.

Three masked shooters in a silver Hyundai opened fire on a group of four teenagers in the Strawberry Mansion shooting Thursday, with at least one using a gun with an extended clip, police said.

The male victims included a 13-year-old shot in the hand, two 16-year-olds shot in the arm — one also in the leg, and a 17-year-old grazed on the thigh. A woman, 31, was shot twice in the left leg and her 2-year-old daughter in the thigh.

Initially listed in critical condition at Temple University Hospital, a 15-year-old boy who was shot three times in the torso and once on the right side of his body was later upgraded to stable.

Authorities said all of the victims were in stable condition as of Monday. They managed to locate the stolen getaway vehicle but haven’t made any arrests.

Pat Conley, 73, is all too familiar with the effects of gun violence. She lost her 38-year-old son, Jason Conley, in a shooting in Strawberry Mansion in 2014, and in November, her 22-year-old grandson, Khalil Conley, suffered the same fate.

“It does stir things up,” Conley told The Inquirer. “It makes you angry, it’s just really upsetting. We can’t even walk the streets without this happening, and it can happen anywhere. It can happen anywhere. We’re not safe anywhere.”

The group of about 30 gathered individuals, many of whom are members of the 57 Blocks Coalition — named for the 57 blocks where 10 or more people have been shot since 2015 — then marched down Susquehanna Avenue.

Said Conley, The Inquirer reported: “This has to stop.”

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