Newsweek published a typically lopsided report last week on a new survey gauging voters’ attitudes toward Black Lives Matter in 2017. Seventy percent of voters surveyed said black-on-black crime in African-American communities was a bigger issue than police violence against African-Americans.
That perception seems to have played out this weekend in Baltimore, where Baltimore Ceasefire organizer Erricka Bridgeford asked that “nobody kill anybody” for 72 hours straight, starting at midnight Thursday. The Baltimore Sun reports that groups organized more than 40 events over the weekend in connection with the effort.
Baltimore residents plea for three-day ceasefire from violence https://t.co/HbxyU3lq9D pic.twitter.com/xHW6AuKeBT
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 7, 2017
Still, two people were reported shot and killed Saturday, and another man killed by gunfire was discovered early Monday morning, bringing the number of homicides in Baltimore in 2017 to 211, putting the city on pace to experience the deadliest year in its history.
4 people were shot, 2 fatally, during a call for a ceasefire in Baltimore. Many praised the grassroots effort. https://t.co/kUjZwCvCuV
— The Baltimore Sun (@baltimoresun) August 7, 2017
Three more shootings, one of them fatal, follow activists' pleas for peace. https://t.co/UJWAwzHLYy
— The Baltimore Sun (@baltimoresun) August 7, 2017
Baltimore Homicides End City’s 72-Hour Ceasefire https://t.co/guQJaDUvq7 pic.twitter.com/LXQopDImKU
— 97.9 The Beat DFW (@979thebeat) August 7, 2017
Organizers are still calling the grassroots effort a success.
Despite killings, Baltimore ceasefire leaders say spirit of event will continue – Baltimore Sun https://t.co/MTrrrc1zmW
— Lamont G ♋️ (@withonewing) August 7, 2017
If a major city has to call for a "weekend ceasefire" it's already collapsed – https://t.co/fulsoHD6fi
— DanRiehl (@DanRiehl) August 7, 2017
Last spring, one day after 20 people had been shot in his city, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel kicked off a similar effort called “Put the Guns Down,” expressing his belief the city could go 24 hours or more without gun violence. Within that time span, 15 were shot, 3 fatally.
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Related:
Laura Ingraham: Is violent crime the sleeper issue of 2016? Baltimore logs 211th homicide this year http://t.co/fLy5Pi3DH7
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) August 20, 2015
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