Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White called on the District to declare a state of emergency in response to the ongoing gun violence around the city.
At a press conference on Friday, White said DC has not yet developed a strategy to tackle the issue despite recording more than 900 victims of shootings in 2020. There are still no strategies after the shooting of eight teenagers last week within four days, according to White.
White’s plea followed the shooting deaths of three teens so far this year, including Jamarid Robinson, a 15-year-old who was shot in Southeast DC on January 27, and Dayvon Lewis, another 15-year-old killed on Congress Street on January 22.
Media Alert: CM Trayon White Demands State of Emergency-CLICK TO READ FULL RELEASE https://t.co/wgubX65917 pic.twitter.com/JvBlWPpdK2
— Trayon White (@trayonwhite) January 28, 2021
With respect to the deaths of the two Black boys, White said “If a white kid had got shot in Washington, D.C., the narrative would have been changed. We would have had meetings. We would have had [the Department of Human Services] out there. We would have had the police department. We would have had mental health services.”
The councilmember also requested that Mayor Muriel Bowser immediately name a Commission to Address Gun Violence. Bowser appointed a gun violence prevention coordinator, a brand new position, for the District on Thursday.
DC has seen 17 homicides since the start of 2021, up from 16 reported last year by this time, according to data released by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). The city’s homicides hit a 15-year-high in 2020.
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