Category: gun control

Jennifer Clark, Mother of Three, Killed at Party

November 3, 2009
ChicagoChicagolandgun controlViolence
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This is wrong any way you look at it. A young mother of three lost her life Sunday in Chicago.

From the Sun-Times:

Jennifer Clark had three children at a young age but tried hard to improve her prospects, continuing her education after high school and working as a home health-care aide.

Her life ended early Sunday in a hail of bullets at a West Side party. Clark, 24, died of a gunshot wound to the chest when someone fired into a party at Hau’t Sneakers and Gear, 5360 W. Division.

Police said the shooting happened about 1:05 a.m. after a man was asked to leave the event for "rude behavior." Once outside, the man filed several shots through the door, hitting Clark and a 16-year-old girl, said Police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak.

The teenager was wounded on the bottom of her left foot and was in serious condition at West Suburban Medical Center, Oak Park. The Cook County medical examiner’s office said Clark, of the 3200 block of West Crystal, was pronounced dead at 1:41 a.m. at Mount Sinai Hospital.

All because a dude was asked to leave a party.

Dude, you gotta step up. A woman lost her life because your pride was hurt.

And three children lost their mother.

Dude, you gotta step up.

Apparently We’re Killing Each Other Less Frequently in Chicago

October 12, 2009
Chicagogun controlViolence
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The news is better in Chicago, but only 11% better.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Homicides continued to decline this year in Chicago through September, including homicides of school-age children, according to Police Department statistics.

Homicides fell 11 percent through the first nine months of 2009 compared with the same period a year ago, department officials said.

Through Sept. 30, there had been 348 slayings, down from 393 for the same period last year.

Through Sept. 15, killings of youths between the ages of 6 and 18 declined by 14.5 percent compared with the same period last year.

Last week, police Supt. Jody Weis trumpeted a 47 percent decline since last year in homicides involving youths — but that figure included those between ages 9 and 19.

Despite the decline in youth slayings in Chicago, the issue has grabbed the spotlight since the fatal beating of 16-year-old Derrion Albert near Fenger High School after classes on Sept. 24.

The city and nation have been riveted by the startling video of the beating, in which several teenagers can be seen wielding large planks of wood in a melee involving more than 50 youngsters.

In response, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Attorney General Eric Holder came to Chicago last week to meet with students and city officials about youth violence.

Was this a quick move on Mayor Daley’s part to quell the unease surrounding the death of Derrion Albert? You bet. 11% means that forty-five fewer people were killed in Chicago this year compared to last year.

That is significant.

Let’s hope it lasts…

Another Life Lost: Aurora Teen Charged in Gang Killing

August 31, 2009
Chicagolandgun controlViolence
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Another life lost.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

A 16-year-old from Aurora has been charged as an adult in what authorities say was a gang-related shooting that killed one man last June and wounded two others.

Christopher Contreras was 15 when he allegedly approached a house in the west suburb on June 24 and opened fire at several people sitting on the front porch, Aurora police spokesman Dan Ferrelli said today.

Killed in the shooting: 38-year-old Donald Franklin, who lived in the home. Two other men, ages 36 and 45, were wounded but survived, Ferrelli said.

Police said the killing appeared to be gang-related, but disclosed nothing else.

Another life lost.

15-year-old Chicago Girl Takes Bullet for Younger Relative

August 13, 2009
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Yet another sensless shooting on Chicago’s Far South Side.  From the Chicago Sun-Times:

A 15-year-old Chicago girl who was shot in the head outside her Far South Side home Wednesday as she shielded a younger relative from gunfire has come through surgery, a relative said this morning.

Taccara Swain’s relatives said they are praying that the Julian High School student will recover from Wednesday night’s shooting.

“These are your friends, these are your neighbors, these are your classmates. Have some values,” Taccara Swain’s aunt, Vernetta Swain, said she’d tell whoever fired the shots.

The girl, who is entering her sophomore year at Julian, was in critical condition at Advocate Christ Medical Center after being shot around 8 p.m. in the 11000 block of South Normal Avenue.

Police said there was an argument between the occupants of two vehicles when shots were fired. The girl was not the intended target, according to the police.

Is anybody listening?  Are we listening?  This is not “their” problem on the South Side of Chicago.  This is our problem.  These are our children getting shot.

At Least 4 Democratic Congressman Receive Death Threats Over Health Care

August 12, 2009
AmericaAnti-ScienceBarack ObamaCongressConstitutionDemocratic NewsEconomygun controlHealth CareViolence
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Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The fringe right wing of movement conservatism is dangerous.

Glenn Beck jokes about poisoning Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and gets to keep his show.

Congressman David Scott had a 4-foot swastika painted over a sign in front of his office.

Congressman Scott is black.

Watch Rachel Maddow in the video above, and be careful.

And speak the TRUTH in the face of these violent, desparate lies.

Chris Lake’s Photo Spread on Southside Chicago Gun Violence

August 3, 2009
Barack ObamaChicagoChicagolandgun controlIllinoisViolence
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Woman holding girl

Chris Lake is a photographer from Park Forest, IL. We had the chance to chat briefly recently and exchanged emails. He invited me to stop by his Web site and take a look at his work.

Very stirring.

What caught my eye most is the fact that hope for change is fading on the south side of Chicago.

From Unforseen Developments:

I was recently commissioned to shoot a story about gun violence on the south side of Chicago. Working with a reporter from UK’s The Guardian, I heard many tragic stories about how gun violence has been destroying lives in that part of the city in epidemic proportions. These people are understandably upset and angry and it shows in their eyes. The problem is getting worse and worse and no one seems able to figure out what to do about it. Hopes that President Obama, himself a southsider, would do something once he took office have faded and residents feel increasingly abandoned and desperate.

I’m looking forward to reading this story in the The Guardian.

Chris says he is looking to collaborate with designers to use some of the photography from the gun violence.  Contact him on is blog if you are interested.

Stop by and take a look at his blog. The photographs, well, speak volumes.

http://chrislake.wordpress.com

Simeon Sanders Served US in Iraq; Shot Dead in Harvey

July 13, 2009
AmericaChicagoChicagolandgun controlViolence
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simeon-sanders

His mother didn’t want him to join the Army.  She was worried about him fighting overseas.  But it was one of us in this country who shot Simeon Sanders dead in Harvey.

One of us. An American.

From the Sun-Times:

Sanders, 21, of Harvey, was shot and killed Thursday evening at 154th and Center Avenue in the south suburb while walking with his cousin. Sanders had been home on furlough to visit his family.

The cousins had just gotten french fries at a restaurant and heard men arguing — some on the sidewalk and some in a car, family members said. Wanting to avoid trouble, the cousins tried to cross the street, and got caught in the crossfire.

“They happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Simeon’s mother, Shannon Sanders, said Saturday while sitting in a room filled with pictures of their large, close-knit family.

Charges are pending against one man.  Police are seeking a second suspect.

I don’t want to talk about gun control.  Instead, I want to know why we can’t control ourselves.  Why do we use guns so freely?

In my classroom, I often tell my students that the United States is the most dangerous country on the face of the earth outside of a war zone.

Look at that young man staring back at you from eternity and ask yourself, “Why?”  Let’s just have a conversation about why this happened.  Twenty-one years old.  Shot in the back.

Former NFL Quarterback Steve McNair Killed in Nashville Shooting

July 4, 2009
gun controlSportsViolence
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CNN has the news:

Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair and another person were killed in a shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, authorities said Saturday.

Police said they found McNair and a woman shot to death in a Nashville residence Saturday after receiving a phone call about an injured person. The identity of the woman was not immediately released.

A law enforcement source close to the investigation said the woman is McNair’s girlfriend and that the residence is her condominium in downtown Nashville.

Witnesses said he was a frequent visitor there.

Authorities were questioning people who were near the home, but they said no one was in custody.

They could not provide details as to the circumstances of the shooting.

McNair played 13 seasons in the NFL, spending most of his tenure with the Tennessee Titans.  He retired in April 2008.

He was only 36.

Christian Extremist Allegedly Shoots, Kills Guard at Holocaust Museum

June 10, 2009
gun controlPhilosophicalRaceReligionViolence
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First, the chilling news from the New York Times:

An 88-year-old white supremacist with a rifle walked into the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, one of the capital’s most visited sites, on Wednesday afternoon and began shooting, fatally wounding a security guard and sending tourists scrambling before he himself was shot, the authorities said.

The gunman was identified by law enforcement officials as James W. von Brunn, who embraces various conspiracy theories involving Jews, blacks and other minority groups and has at times waged a personal war with the federal government.

James W. von Brunn is 88 years old, currently listed in critical condition, according to CNN.

I’m not going to comment much.  The story is still raw, and a man died today.  The Holocaust Memorial Museum identified the deceased guard as Stephen Tyrone Johns.

According to CNN, the museum released a statement saying Johns died “heroically in the line of duty.”

“There are no words to express our grief and shock over these events. He served on the Museum’s security staff for six years. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Officer Johns’ family,” the statement said. “We have made the decision to close the Museum tomorrow in honor of Officer Johns, and our flags will be flown at half mast in his memory.”

The alleged shooter is a Christian extremist.  Read this disturbing passage from his book, Kill the Best Gentiles:

Under the Pharisees’ direction the Temple had become the Federal Reserve System of its day. Christ drove the usurers from the Temple with a snake whip, indirectly attacking the Pharisees’ purse. That sealed his fate! The Anti-Defamation League of his day acted quickly. Using standard procedures they defamed Jesus (“L’Infamie”) to get the mob on their side — as centuries later they would defame Marie Antoinette, the Romanovs, Hitler, Gen. MacArthur, McCarthy, et al). Then, Jesus was framed by the Sanhedrin, who had Him arrested, tried, sentenced, and crucified. (Pope John Paul, 1995 A.D., denied the HOLY WORD, pronouncing that JEWS had no part in the death of Jesus Christ!).

His blood be on us (JEWS) and upon our children! MATTHEW: 27:24-25.

I am innocent of the blood of this just man! THE SYNOPTICS: Pontius Pilate.

Other white supremicists seem to be worrying about their image, of all things.  This from someone who calls himself “Messiah” on a Web site called Stormfront, which proclaims the motto White Pride World Wide:

Most know the source of our problems are Jews and their desires to control the whole earth and all that is within it. They’re using our American government, and our money to accomplish that.

Now that being said, shooting up the Holocaust Museum will not change that.

NewPagan offers this:

What a Jackass move. This accomplished less than nothing and was just stupid and senseless all around. At least if he had targeted some people directly responsible for the financial collapse I could understand that.

As far as I’m concerned, Sorcerer gets the prize:

Dumbass thats just gonna make WN look stupid.   [sic]

Yup.  Real stupid.

That’s all I can read right now.  Personally, I’m going to spend a few moments in silent prayer reflecting on the loss today, working to focus back on the love.

Jordan Brown, 11, Should Be Charged as a Juvenile

March 24, 2009
gun controlLegalViolence
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Jordan Brown

Tragic news out of Wampum, PA:

The 11-year-old boy accused of shooting and killing his father’s pregnant fiancée is due in court on Tuesday.

Kenzie Houk, 26, was eight months pregnant when, police said, Jordan Brown shot and killed her at her home in Wampum in Lawrence County.

Brown, who was charged as an adult in the case, is expected to appear in court on charges of first-degree murder.

Prosecutors have said his motive may have been jealousy.

There is no good way to resolve this situation.  A woman and her unborn child are dead.

But an 11-year-old boy being charged as an adult with first degree murder?

This is insane.

The crime is horrible.  Punishing this child as an adult is insane. And a crime.