NYPD, Locals Join Unity Walk

By Rachel Holliday Smith and Julia Bottles – DNA Info.com

The neighborhood came together Tuesday evening to try to find common ground in the face of recent violence against both black men and police officers nationwide.

Dozens of people met in front of the 77th Precinct at 127 Utica Ave. at Bergen Street at 6 p.m. for the “Unity in the Community” walk, organized by Senator Jesse Hamilton, which was set to end at Lincoln Terrace Park about eight blocks south of the station house.

“We are marching to lead by example of how this can be done,” said Assemblywoman Diana Richardson.

The event came in the wake of the fatal shootings of five police officers in Dallas as well as the deaths of black men in Louisiana and Texas last week.

But the violence hit close to home too. Delrawn Small was fatally shot by an off-duty police officer in East New York on July 4.

“We’re dying out here! I’m tired of this,” Mike Tucker of Lay the Guns Down yelled into the microphone after asking for a moment of silence in memory of victims of police brutality.

Tucker, whose son was killed by police in 2005, then called for gun reform, asked people to register to vote, and encouraged them to get organized.

“We’re dealing with this issue in our own backyards,” Assemblywoman Latrice Walker said, adding that Brownsville, which is one neighborhood in her district, has seen 29 shootings in 2016.

On Monday people also gathered at Grand Army Plaza for a candlelight vigil to honor the victims of last week’s violence.