Simmons: Put unarmed mediators in schools

AP Close

Hip hop mogul Russell Simmons said Monday that he wants to put unarmed mediators in schools across America.

Speaking at a press conference in New York City with members of city council, Simmons said that the Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., where 20 kids and six others were murdered, is a sign that something must be done in schools.

"The recent Sandy Hook incident put gun violence in the forefront but there's a Sandy Hook every weekend in Chicago," Simmons said, according to The New York Post. "The Sandy Hook incident and other incidents like it are important and have brought this discussion to the forefront, but still it seems that these kids are left out."

He asked for funding for nonprofit organizations to put the "peacekeepers" in the schools.

"We have the peacekeepers in 25 cities and they're just getting started but they need funding as well. We have to fund these programs. All of our underserved communities are at risk and that means you're at risk," he said, according to The Post.

The NRA has proposed putting an armed guard in every school in America.