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Brooklyn Lawmaker Compares Violence In Brownsville To Libya, Afghanistan, Iran
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 25, 2011
Modified Oct 25, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 25, 2011
Modified Oct 25, 2011
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Brownsville residents, community leaders, and politicians continued to express outrage yesterday in the wake of the death of Zuranna Horton, who was killed while trying to shield children from a spray of gunfire outside a school Friday afternoon. There was a candlelight vigil and march Sunday night, and yesterday Rev. Al Sharpton met with Horton's family, praising her ultimate sacrifice and noting that two of her siblings had previously died from gun violence. State Senator Eric Adams, whom you may recall from his "Stop the Sag" campaign, also weighed in.
"This is not Libya. This is not Iran. This is not Afghanistan," Adams "railed," according to the Daily News. "This is Brownsville, USA... What happened to this young lady here should not have happened." We're not really sure what this gang-related violence really has to do with Iran, but Adams isn't alone in comparing the neighborhood to a war zone. "It's going to take an army to stop the war that’s happening in our community right now,” one local tells CBS 2. And here's Horton's mother: "This is the third child I’ve lost from gunshots. I’m really going to miss my daughter."
Two other people were injured in the shooting: A 31-year-old woman and 11-year-old Cheanne McKnight, who was grazed in the right cheek by a bullet. McKnight got 26 stitches but was back at school yesterday. "I heard gunshots, and before I got to run, the bullet had hit me in my face," Cheanne says. "It was burning, it was hot. I put my sweater over my face and I went in the store and I asked for a paper towel and I put it on my face and I went in an ambulance."
Cheanne says she's going to transfer to another school, and her mother adds, "It ain’t fair a woman had to die to save my child because that woman tried to save my child. I think something should have been done about this because the day before they was shooting, so these corners should have been covered with police." No arrests have been made in connection with the shooting, but city Councilman Charles Barron is calling for $200 million from the city budget to create 10 youth centers in the most crime-plagued areas of NYC, in an attempt to save children from joining gangs.
Tagged
brooklyn
brownsville
eric adams
gang violence
gun violence
zuranna horton
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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