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July 22, 2010 23:20:06
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More than 300 rally at site where 5-year-old
More than 300 rally at site where 5-year-old Jersey City girl was shot in neck
Jersey City Councilwoman Viola Richardson speaks at an anti-violence rally at Montgomery Gardens tonight in wake of 5-year-old Hasmera Clayton being shot in neck inside the housing development's playground last Friday night.
Enough!
That was the overarching and desperate theme of tonight's rally at the Montgomery Gardens housing complex in Jersey City where a five-year-old girl was shot in the neck last Friday.
"If Jesus was in Jersey City today, he would be right here with me because a baby is in the hospital with a fresh bullet taken out of her spine," said the Rev. Eugene Overstreet, pastor of New Covenant Baptist Church of Christ and Ministries of Jersey City, which organized the event.
"I'm here to tell the drug slingers we aren't afraid of you," Overstreet said to the more than 300 people at the event. "You will not control our destiny...We are not just window dressing today."
The crowd, filled with residents, politicians, police officials, and concerned citizens, gathered in the complex's courtyard in the wake of the shooting of Hasmera Clayton. The bullet that nicked her spine was removed this week and doctors say they'll have a better idea about her recovery in a few weeks.
Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy, who has pushed for tougher gun control laws as part of coalition of mayors, visited Hasmera at University Hospital in Newark yesterday and told the crowd the girl is moving her arms and has some feeling in her legs.
"That little girl is making a strong recovery," he said.
Ward F Councilwoman Viola Richardson appealed to residents to protect their families, not the drug dealers.
"You know who has the drugs, what time they are bringing it in, and who they are giving it to," Richardson said. "Enough is enough...Give us the information and I'll turn them in...If you got this grandson you know isn't right, you better put him out of here...It's in our hands."
Jersey City Police Director Sam Jefferson spoke along the same lines, urging the crowd to help police be more effective.
"Sometimes we have to turn each other in so others may live," Jefferson said. "It's time to start looking at ourselves."
Assemblyman Charles Mainor, Sheriff Juan Perez, state Sen. Sandra B. Cunningham, Freeholder Jeff Dublin, Jersey City Councilman Steven Fulop -- they all attended and addressed the crowd, as did the well-known activist and former Jersey City resident, the Rev. Herbert Daughtry.
"I'm sick and tired of hearing about our young kids killing each other," Dublin said. "People who use guns are cowards....You should get a strong (tenant) association here and run these drug-dealing...suckers...out of here."
At the end of the rally, which began at 5 p.m. and ended after 7 p.m., Overstreet passed out cards and asked people for contact information so they can be called to the next event.
"In a city of a quarter of a million people, the loudest speaker is a 5-year-old girl that is inspiring people," said Fulop, who called this moment in time "a window of opportunity."
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