Curtis S. Brown is not worried about a pending felony weapon charge hampering his efforts to curb gun violence in Columbia.

Neither, for that matter, is the Heart of Missouri United Way. Brown, also known as Curtis Soul or his DJ moniker �Boogieman,� announced a partnership this week. The not-for-profit is sponsoring a weekly event outside Brown�s home at Whitegate Avenue and Sylvan Lane from 4-8 p.m. every Saturday aimed at building community and combating gun violence.

United Way is providing free ice cream for the ongoing event, which started two weeks ago. Brown has been known as a community organizer and activist for years,but in January he was arrested on suspicion of shooting at another man during a fight in the 500 block of Sexton Road.

Though Brown wouldn�t say whether he is falsely accused � he deferred most questions to his attorney, Frank Carlson of Union � he said he was protecting himself at the time of the incident. He said it has given him motivation to work harder to reduce crime in the city and his neighborhood, which was the site of the city�s lone homicide so far in 2016.

Brown, 72, said he has no criminal record other than the pending charge of unlawful use of a weapon, which carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison.

�I got the one charge pending,� Brown said. �I�m glad I got it because it shows me what can happen to anybody. It can happen to you. All you have to do it resist the person robbing you or sticking you up, and you get that charge.�

He declined to say whether that was the circumstance that led to his arrest.

According to a probable cause statement, four witnesses told Columbia police Detective Steve Wilmoth that Brown became angry when he thought a woman at a house in the 500 block of Sexton stole something from him. Brown assaulted the woman, Wilmoth wrote, and his nephew tried to intervene before Brown grabbed a gun and �began firing the gun indiscriminately. Witnesses said �Brown was acting �crazy,� and angry at the time he was firing the gun.�

Brown told police he returned fire at a car that drove by in self-defense, the same claim he made in an interview with the Tribune.

Brouck Jacobs, the Boone County assistant prosecuting attorney who filed the case, declined to comment because the case is pending.

Jennifer Truesdale, a spokeswoman for United Way, said the organization is aware of Brown�s case. Truesdale said United Way leaders and Columbia police are all comfortable with his involvement in the event.

�I don�t feel like we�re in a position to judge Curtis,� Truesdale said.

United Way�s first involvement in community outreach in Columbia was in 2014, when it sponsored a similar event at Douglass Park that also involved Brown.

The organization had a leadership change in 2015 and didn�t participate, Truesdale said, but it was approached in early June about coming on board for the event at Whitegate and Sylvan.

Truesdale said Andrew Grabau, executive director of Heart of Missouri United Way, regularly attends the Saturday events. She said Grabau spoke with a 22-year-old man on June 11 who had been shot twice in the neighborhood a few weeks earlier.

The next court date in Brown�s case is a pretrial conference scheduled for Aug. 22, with a jury trial set for Aug. 30. Carlson, Brown�s attorney, did not respond to a message seeking comment.