'The Village Has Crumbled': NAACP, Community Leaders Gather To Discuss St. Paul Violence
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- St. Paul families say something needs to be done to stop more young people from dying on their streets.
Police say 120 people have been shot in the city this year, and 21 of those people died. Eight of them were shot and killed just this month.
INTERACTIVE MAP: 2019 St. Paul Fatal Shootings
At an NAACP community meeting held Thursday night, those affected by violence explained what's needed for change.
"They used to say it takes a village to raise a child, but the village has crumbled, and we are failing with saving our children," said Rev. Richard Pittman from the NAACP. "Our young people should be celebrating our birthdays, these things with their families. But instead we are celebrating death."
Rev. Patterson gathered speakers with a heartfelt interest, like Mary Johnson, and the man who killed her son, O'Shea Israel.
READ MORE: St. Paul Police Want More Officers, Mayor Wants Less
"I choose to forgive O'Shea Israel. I choose to forgive O'Shea Israel," Johnson said.
Johnson and Israel -- who is now a peace activist -- spoke of their bond, the power of finding strength in pain, and their quest for solutions -- like making incarcerated men mentors.
"If we can find a way for men in prison to deal with youth, maybe we can kill two birds with one stone," Israel said.
Another speaker with personal insight was St. Paul Police Deputy Chief Paul Iovino, who lost his own father to murder.
"There are names for each one of these 21. There is somebody who loved each one of those 21 that died," Iovino said.
Together, they talked solutions, and expressed a need for neighbors to invest in young people -- with more listening and more love -- from everyone.
"This is not about a group. This is about all of us collectively coming together and finding ways to solve the situation, because nobody is safe," Rev. Pittman said.
