Volunteers pledge 21-day patrol of hotspots after children shot in Minneapolis
Reverend Jerry McAfee is working to organize 21 Days of Peace for Minneapolis, after it has been gripped with an increase in violence in 2021.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - In an effort to stem the rise in gun violence that the City of Minneapolis has faced in 2021, a group of volunteers is planning to take to the streets for the next 21 days.
The group, organized by community leaders in the city, say something must be done after the recent shootings of three children -- including 6-year-old Aniya Allen who died on Wednesday from her injuries.
Volunteers involved in the peace operation say they want to take the streets back from young gang members who are causing problems.
"We got to take this temperature down," said New Salem Missionary Baptist Church Reverend Jerry McAfee. "We're losing babies; we don’t want to lose nobody."
Reverend McAfee has always been a community leader and now he’s stepping up to organize 21 Days of Peace. He’s got volunteers ready to go from churches, activist groups and more. The reverend says it’s kids in loosely-organized, smaller gangs who keep the gunfire going.
"We going to be posted how they post up," said Reverend McAfee. "When they post, we post. When they walk, we walk. [Who’s they?] Whoever the perpetrators are of the crime."
Sharif Willis is the former leader of the Vice Lords Gang. But now he says he fights for peace and will be on the frontlines in this 21 Days of Peace volunteer effort.
"We need thousands of people to come out on the streets every time a Black gets killed by another Black to say that Black lives really matter," said Willis. "If you chant that slogan, if you chant that slogan, you need to be there. You need to be there. If you’re not there you’re disingenuous."
The plan is to saturate the gunfire hot spots. There will be captains to communicate with volunteers and members of the Minneapolis Police Department and Metro Transit Police who McAfee says will be out there with them.
"For 21 days, we want it on lockdown," said Reverend McAfee. "Where you can’t run to no hotspot. And if you find another hotspot we're going to be just as mobile as you are and dogged and determined to try to get this thing turned around. We want our communities safe."
The 21 Days of Peace starts Monday. They'll be at the hot spots from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. -- ending at 10 p.m., we're told, because the majority of gunfire actually happens before then. They say if after 21 days they haven't seen a change, they will keep going.