By Melissa Jones
AFRO Web Editor
Jazmin Pryor speaks and the Unity Against Violence Forum. (AFRO Photo/Mark Mehlinger)
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(October 31, 2009) - On the morning of Oct. 23, a 14-year-old robbery suspect lay recovering at University of Maryland’s Shock Trauma Center from a gunshot wound to the abdomen inflicted by a city officer the night before.
Across town, area residents, community leaders, crime victims, and Baltimore City Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld gathered at Coppin State University for the Unity Against Violence, “Perspectives Suggestions Alliances” forum to address the issue of crime in the city.
Jazmin Pryor, a first-hand victim of crime, told the room of concerned citizens that she was advised to move away to avoid being victimized.
“I never thought that this would happen to me” she said, “I was told that I should leave… where I was raised…because someone is threatening to hurt me and kill me.”
"No deal,"she insisted.
Pryor’s views were echoed by Baltimore City State’s Attorney, Patricia Jessamy, who supported Congressman Elijah Cummings’ introduction of the Witness Intimidation Protection Act of 2007. That bill sought to establish a short-term witness protection program for the state funded by federal grants.
“These individuals are in the minority,” Jessamy said.“We cannot let them threaten and intimidate us to the extent where we remain silent and they succeed.”
Cummings’ bill never made it out of the House of Representatives, but Jessamy made promises nonetheless to “do whatever we can to protect you.”
Witness intimidation in Baltimore gained national attention in 2002 with the firebombing murder of Angela Dawson and her five children in their East Baltimore home, and the 2004 release of the infamous “Stop Snitching” DVDs, which promoted a street “ethics” code of not cooperating with police investigations.
Kimberly Armstrong lost her son in 2004 to gun violence and has since become an advocate against juvenile violence, and challenged those in attendance to hold elected officials accountable for helping to solve the city’s crime problem.
“If you don’t do what we say [to] do with my money, then you won’t be in office, ” she said. “Enough is enough…we need to take our streets back.”