'My heart is heavy for Detroit': City rallies against gun violence

Marc Daalder | Detroit Free Press

Backed by a brigade of orange-clad supporters and activists, Detroit City Council President Pro Tem Mary Sheffield led a rally against gun violence on Friday morning, sparking it off with cries of “We’re fired up! We’re fed up!”

The rally started at the Spirit of Detroit statue outside City Hall and lasted more than an hour. It featured a performance from the Detroit Youth Choir, which covered the Black Eyed Peas’ “Where is the Love?” and appearances from a range of faith leaders, gun safety advocates, and law enforcement representatives.

The rally, Sheffield told the audience of perhaps 40, was meant both to commemorate the national kickoff of Gun Violence Awareness Month and to recognize Detroit’s own struggle with firearms. “Every time we lose a young person, the future of our city is jeopardized,” she explained.

“Right now, I just want to shine a bright light on Detroit. A light of peace, of hope, of love, of encouragement and of healing.”

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Deputy Police Commander Todd Bettison was one of the speakers. He highlighted the city’s mental health crisis as a major cause of gun violence, but put most of his focus on drugs and alcohol. He said people who committed gun crimes often were “high on some type of substance but once it gets out of their system they’re remorseful. Drinking, drugs and firearms are a deadly cocktail. We have a responsibility to try to help people turn down instead of turning up.”

Bettison also touted the Detroit Police Department’s engagement with local communities, warning potential criminals that their own families and friends would turn against them. He cited the recent case of a young man who tipped the police on his own brother, who had committed a shooting, but didn’t give more specifics because the investigation is ongoing.

More audience members drifted in as the event stretched out – organizers cited trouble finding parking for some of the delays. Other speakers included Councilman James Tate, who discussed D1 C.A.N. – a project which seeks to get his District 1 community involved in the fight against gun violence.

Representatives from a number of gun violence awareness groups, including Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and the Michigan branch of the Million Mom March, as well as student groups like the March for Our Lives and the newly-formed Students Demand Action, discussed a number of policy initiatives they wanted to see implemented by the state Legislature. Most popular was a universal background check.

Also highly praised were efforts to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines. “Red flag” laws, measures which would allow individuals and law enforcement to file court orders stripping potentially dangerous people of their firearms, were frequently cited as a reasonable policy goal.

Organizers and speakers emphasized how the issue of gun violence was universal. Deleah Sharp, executive director of advocacy group Identify Your Dream, said, “Black and brown babies gunned down in the streets are just as important as white students in suburban schools. Homosexuals in night clubs are just as important as Christians in a church. Men and women gunned down by police officers are just as important as everyday workers in their jobs.”

One speaker, introduced by Sheffield only as J.D., a “young man who is giving back to his community,” spoke directly to at-risk youth.

“This message is for the hood,” he said, “Any sucker can take a life but the real men, the real gangsters, they’re saving lives.”

The rally ended with a symbolic release of 96 orange balloons, one for each of the people estimated to die of gun violence daily in the United States. Orange is the color of the gun violence awareness movement because it is the color hunters wear to warn others not to shoot at them.

After the conclusion of the rally, audience members and organizer alike seemed invigorated. Casey Roy, 48, is a mother of three. Her two sons sang in the Youth Choir at the event and her young daughter attended as well. Wearing a sticker emblazoned with the logo of Moms Demand Action, Roy told the Free Press, “This is a rally that needed to be done here within the city because of the violence. It’s not just the city, its everywhere, it’s all over Michigan. It’s crazy and it needs to stop.”

Carmi Finn of Warren is one of the spokespeople for Moms Demand Action, although she didn’t speak at the event. When asked what motivated her to join the gun safety movement, Finn cited the 2012 Newtown, Conn., shooting as the “first huge wakeup call for me. Small children being slaughtered in a classroom and nothing being done.”

“I have not – fortunately – been impacted by gun violence. I’m one of the lucky ones. But I assume that someday I will be, because almost everybody is.” Finn stressed how the effects of gun violence reach far beyond the bullet. “Ninety-six (people killed by guns) a day is a horrible number, but there’s a huge ripple effect from those numbers. Everyone that loved those people, their classmates, their teachers, their students, their coworkers, their neighbors – everyone is affected. That pool of people is getting larger by the minute and that is a terrible thing to contemplate.”

Sheffield agreed, and repeatedly stressed the urgency of the issue. But, when all was said and done, she was still optimistic. “To hear the young voices who really believe that we need change in the city of Detroit really inspired me,” she told the Free Press after the rally.

When asked if she was hopeful, Sheffield said, “Of course! I’m always hopeful. I think (the issue) is gaining traction, especially with the energy of our young people. To see them now being advocates for this is very important. I’m definitely hopeful.”