Mayor Barrett pleads for violence-free Fourth of July holiday
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is worried about the sharp rise in violence in the city, particularly as people gather for the Fourth of July weekend.
At a news conference on the city’s south side Friday afternoon, Barrett revealed stark numbers.
86 homicides as of Friday morning, compared with just half that many at the same time last year, and 53 two years ago.
273 nonfatal shootings so far this year compared with 182 during the same time period last year and 227 in 2018.
“I am very troubled by what I’m seeing in Milwaukee this year,” said Barrett.
The mayor said Milwaukee should be a place where children can play in their yards and females can walk outside in the evening without worrying about their safety.
Ray Mendoza, a member of 414Life violence interruption group, noted passionately that there’s a grieving family behind every homicide statistic in Milwaukee.
“When are we going to stop going to candlelight vigils? When are we going to stop releasing balloons (for victims)? When are we going to stop wearing people’s faces on T-shirts?” said Mendoza.
“Let’s show that this weekend we can go four, five days without killing somebody,” Mendoza said.
Reggie Moore, director of the city’s Office of Violence Prevention, said Milwaukee is not an isolated case — violence is increasing throughout the U.S.
Because of a significant increase in gun purchases at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, more guns are in homes, said Moore. And domestic violence reports have gone up since the outbreak.
“All of these things have created a perfect storm,” said Moore.