Man Up, Guns Down anti-violence rally held in Detroit

DETROIT (WJBK) - Many gathered at the site where a 6-month-old was shot last month to protest the violence with a "Man Up, Guns Down" rally on Saturday evening.

The event at 7 Mile Road and Winthrop on Detroit's west side, where Miracle Murray was killed while playing outside on April 16, was held to peacefully protest the recent string of child-related violence that has affected the Detroit community over the past month or so.

Along with Murray's death, a 3-year-old girl was killed on Riverview Street in gunfire on Easter morning, a 4-year-old boy was killed on Monica Street while learning to ride a bike and a 16-year-old girl was killed among gang gunfire.

"We have a group of individuals that are coming out to save our neighborhoods, trying to help impact our children," said Ricardo Russel, who lives in the neighborhood. "We're trying to help impact a positive image on our elderly. We have a multitude of different groups, from different walks of life, but right now I represent College Park Association. We're basically out here to save our streets."

Craig said he came out to the event Saturday to help show unification.

"We have different groups out here today and people are saying, ‘Enough is enough,'" he said. "This is not some media campaign. This would have happened whether you folks were coming or not. What it is about is getting and mobilizing and empowering the community. Once that happens, that's when the shift happens. Does it happen overnight? No."

Despite the recent string of violent crimes, Craig said crime rates are still trending downward.

"It's these individual acts that really drive fear in our communities. Five people shot at a car wash, totally unacceptable -- one fatal, four nonfatal shootings. So that's a location that's certainly going to get a lot of our attention over the next week. In fact, that area as I reported out last week, we've seen double-digit reductions in violence -- I'm talking about a 50 percent reduction in violence. So something's working real well."

Craig said the police force will continue to move in the right direction.