MIAMI (WSVN) - A large group of Liberty City residents and parents took to the streets in Brickell to say “no more” to gun violence.
Several protesters in the Liberty City community boarded a bus to Brickell and marched to the mayor’s office at the Stephen P. Clark Center, demanding change, Wednesday.
They raised signs, chanted and even stopped to sit near at least two intersections, halting traffic.
Around 1 p.m., dozens of residents stood in the intersection of Brickell Avenue and Southeast 12th Street.
The protest created traffic issues, but the drivers 7News spoke with said they support the message.
“Yes, because violence has to stop,” said driver Frederick Antoine.
Driver Max Moss also supports the protest. “There’s a lot of emotion, a lot of anger, and they’re peacefully expressing it,” he said. “I fully support it.”
The organizer of the event marched alongside mothers who lost their children due to gun violence.
“As a community activist, as a community leader, I stand with the parents of lost kids,” said event organizer Dwight Wells. “We need our crime to be brought down to a tremendous low number. Quick, fast and in a hurry.”
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez did not make an appearance when marchers gathered outside the Stephen P. Clark Center. He told 7News he was working, and by the time he got downstairs, the group was gone.
Gimenez also emailed 7News to say he will participate in a peace march.
“We want him to take responsibility to patrol the area more, but he needs to come out and sit down with these residents,” said Pastor Brian Dennis, who supports the march.
The march took place just days after 17-year old Kimson Green, an honor student at Miami Northwestern Senior High School was shot and killed in Liberty City, along with 18-year-old Rickey Dixon, Sunday.
The group marching Wednesday said they will not let the deaths be in vain. “There’s a community effort. We’re going to change and stop these killings. These kids are going to be the kids who make change in this village of Miami-Dade County,” Wells said. “We want change.”
This week, the city and county launched a Operation Blue and Brown, which will put more officers in the streets of Liberty City.
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