-
Sep 26, 2007 5:40 pm US/Central
-
Digg |
Facebook |
E-mail
|
Print
Hundreds Demand Money For Anti-Violence Program
Senator Points Finger At Governor
by Joanie Lum
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Hundreds demonstrated in downtown Chicago Wednesday hoping to breathe life into the anti-violence program Cease Fire after the governor pulled the plug on the group's funding.
CBS 2's Joanie Lum reports supporters from all over the state say Cease Fire has made the difference between life and death.
Sharon Smith's 17-year old son Jerel was fatally shot the weekend after Governor Rod Blagojevich vetoed cease fire's funding.
"People are getting killed. All you hear are shootings, ambulances, that's all you hear every day," Smith said.
Ramon Sanchez recently was shot in the eye.
"Somebody could have gotten to the kid who pulled the trigger, you never know," Sanchez said.
Cease Fire uses former gang members as neighborhood liaisons to intervene in gang feuds. They say there have been six fatal shootings since Cease Fire lost its funding.
"There's a general feeling among gangs that if Cease Fire is not out there, it gives us a free reign," Cease Fire outreach worker Melvin Santiago explained.
State Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago) had some strong words for the governor. "The caskets and the killings partly lay at the door of Governor Rod Blagojevich," Sandoval said.
Last August, the governor defended the decision to cut Cease Fire's funding. "I view it as simply doing my job and setting the right priorities and using the judgment that I have and the responsibilities invested in me by the people to make the decisions that governors are supposed to make," he said at the time.
Sandoval is calling on his fellow lawmakers to overturn Governor Blagojevich's decision, and restore Cease Fire's funding.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)