GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Saturday morning, several Grand Rapids organizations teamed up to hold a Stop the Violence Peace Walk.
Black Wallstreet Grand Rapids, Generation Wealthy, the Grand Rapids African American Community Task Force and Mothers on a Mission to Stop Street Violence all hosted the walk.
The event started at 10:30 a.m. at Wealthy Street and Diamond Avenue SE, the parking lot of Wealthy Market. Local leaders like Mayor Rosalynn Bliss, Grand Rapids City Commissioner Senita Lenear and Kent County Commissioner Robert Womack attended the walk.
"We simply look to make a statement of peace for our communities and families," Black Wallstreet Grand Rapids said on Facebook.
Lenear addressed the crowd and said there are victims on both ends of violence.
"Just as there are families burying their children, there are parents visiting their children in jail or prison," she said.
The march occurred just a couple of days after Cameron Williams, 21, was shot in the chest and died on Aug. 26. Police have charged Tomari Desuan Jemison, 22, with one count of carrying a concealed weapon and one count of careless discharge of a firearm causing death.
Williams' death is the 14th fatal shooting of the year in Grand Rapids; there have been 20 total homicides. Saturday morning, less than an hour before the march, a victim was shot in the foot on Camelot Drive, near E. Paris Avenue.
This summer, city leaders have been pleading for gun violence to end as homicides have already surpassed the total from last year. These calls are similar to last summer, and a similar Stop the Violence march was also held in late August of 2019.
The Stop the Violence march stopped and started at Wealthy Street Market, the location of a July 15 fatal shooting in which the victim was a 23-year-old man.
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