Newark Residents, Leaders Vent About Violence At Public Meeting
NEWARK, NJ (CBSNewYork) - Recent shootings and other crimes in Newark's West Ward have gotten to a point where residents, along city and school district leaders, feel the need to vent.
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And they did so at a public meeting on Thursday.
"Government has a role to play. Everybody has a role to play. But we have to stop and say 'We're sick and tired of being sick and tired.'," said West Ward councilman Ronald Rice, Jr.
He sees hoodies worn to support gunned-down Florida teen Trayvon Martin, but wonders what about the murders in his city.
"When are we going to wear hoodies for that? When are we going to start dealing with those kind of issues, because if I had to point and say that are white folks killing us, by the measure that we're dying in these streets, the answer is no. It's black folks killing black folks," he said. "We better get to the reasons why and step up to solving some of these answers and providing some solutions or otherwise we'll be wearing a lot more hoodies."
There have been 16 homicides so far in Newark this year.
What do you have to say about the problem of urban violence in New Jersey? Sound off in the comments section below.
