Posted on 01/20/2021 12:30:57 PM PST by Impala64ssa
Dante Barksdale, an anti-gun violence activist who worked as the director of Baltimore's Safe Streets program, is dead after being shot in the head.
"They also lead public education campaigns and work closely with faith-based organizers and community members — and explicitly not with police — to steer young people away from violence," the paper reports "The program has been hailed as one of the city's most effective crime-fighting tools."
What are the details? According to a Monday report from the New York Post, Barksdale was visiting a local public housing project when an as-yet unidentified gunman opened fire and struck him in the head.
Barksdale, who worked as the director for the city's Safe Streets campaign for more than a decade, was rushed to nearby Johns Hopkins Hospital early Sunday morning, where officials pronounced him dead.
The Baltimore Sun also reported that Barksdale a few weeks earlier had delivered winter coats to families at the very same housing project where he lost his life.
A police spokesperson told the Post, "The investigation is ongoing and we have no further updates to provide at this time."
In a statement, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said that Barksdale was the "heart and soul" of the Safe Streets program and that the tragic news broke his heart.
"[Barksdale's] death is a major loss to Safe Streets, the communities they serve, and the entire city of Baltimore," he said. "Dante's work saved lives. This is a sobering reminder of how dangerous this frontline work is."
He added, "I will not let those who chose to violently take his life dampen the light of his work."
James Timpson, a former program leader, said, "His life was dedicated to preventing this type of stuff from happening. Nobody can believe that this happened."
Any people with information on the shooting are encouraged to call police at (410) 396-2100.
Michael Harrison, Baltimore's police commissioner, said that Barksdale's work was instrumental to spreading a message of hope in the community.
“His work in outreach, mediating conflicts and reducing gun violence in our city was invaluable and he embodied a message of redemption and peace to the many young people of our city," Harrison said.
City Council President Nick J. Mosby said that Barksdale — an "exceptional man" — was a personal friend.
"For the last decade, Dante Barksdale used his life to save others by preventing gun violence on our streets and confronting Baltimore's horrendous cycle of violence that traumatizes families and entire communities," Mosby said. "And he beat a myriad of odds to do it. ... He had an outsized impact on Safe Streets through his masterful conflict mediation skills, the passion he demonstrated in his commitment to peace and his steady presence in reducing crime on behalf of this city he absolutely loved."
Pity.
While the story seeps with irony, it is very sad.
“The program has been hailed as one of the city’s most effective crime-fighting tools.”
Certainly sound effective. Prayer for the family.
Agreed. The loss of life is a tragedy. The lack of awareness of what leads to it is even worse as it has and will continue to cost lives.
Eventually a couple of these cities are going to accidentally vote in a conservative and maybe that will wake up the others to how bad Democrat leadership has been for them for all these decades.
shades of schadenfreude for the Dems. sympathy to his family
Ex NYC mayor,Bloomberg stated that to lower crime ,especially in inner cities,we need to take guns away from all black males 15-25..
Well,one person didn’t get the message
Have they found a Trump supporting White Supremacist Insurrectionist to frame for this yet?
The irony!!
Kind of reminds me of the HBO series “The Wire”. Even some of the names are the same.
Wish you were right, but I doubt it. They’ll keep voting Dem until they’re all dead. I think Baltimore Dems pay their “Dind-do-nuffin” voters to vote.
Yep. the headline is its own punchline.
It would not surprise me if the guy was dealing drugs and was shot by a competitor. Too many of these positions are essentially no-show jobs created to reward political cronies.
“... through his masterful conflict mediation skills, ...”
Learning to duck skill might have been valuable.
Wasn’t this an episode of “The Wire?”
suckers
We see that as doing the right thing.
Those who actually control the streets see it as an
encroachment of their turf.
The irony of it all.
Sorry. but...i have to suppress a laugh. Safe Streets is a vehicle for the fiction that you never need police violence to control street violence.
Sounds like he should have brought a social worker along with him.
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