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Dem mayor howls as pastor leads gun-toting citizen patrol to combat violence, clean up streets
Armed citizens are patrolling the violent streets of Hartford, Connecticut as the Democrat mayor decries people with guns taking the law into their own hands.
Minister Cornell Lewis launched the Self-Defense Brigade after Archbishop Dexter Burke demanded patrols following violent crime breaking out in Hartford. The group of citizens are patrolling the violent areas of the city while cleaning up the streets.
Burke remarked, “We are going to bring an armed security that’s going to walk the streets with individuals, help them to the bus stop. Help them to the grocery store and patrol the area,” the Daily Mail reported.
“We are legally armed, and we are patrolling,” Lewis told NBC Connecticut. “The people on Garden Street came to us and asked us for help.”
“Garden Street has seen its share of gun violence, including a double homicide in February, which is what prompted the push for civilian armed patrols,” Blaze Media reported.
The Self-Defense Brigade patrolled Garden Street in Hartford’s North End on Saturday.
“It was important to come out here because we believe that we have to keep the community safe, keep the community clean,” Marcus Long of Hartford told NBC Connecticut. “And we’re doing this by being out here for a few hours [to] clean up the community, pick up the trash.”
The group was not open-carrying which is illegal in Connecticut. But group members are licensed and carrying concealed weapons which seems to be an excellent crime deterrent.
“We are not vigilantes,” Lewis told NBC Connecticut. “We are a group of people that are disciplined and trained. We go to the shooting range.”
The Self-Defense Brigade seems to be very well-versed in Second Amendment rights.
“The brigade also met to discuss gun rights as well as how to get a permit and the practices of safe carry, personal use, and storage of guns,” Blaze Media noted.
“We’ll be patrolling at night. So it’s not just a one-time thing. It’s going to be on a consistent basis,” Lewis told NBC Connecticut, indicating that they will patrol several times a week.
Organizers also plan to expand the patrol to other parts of the city.
An anti-violence group and Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam are not happy with citizens taking control of the streets and defending themselves.
“Our community has seen so much pain and trauma, and what we need is for those who love this city to do the hard work of healing that pain,” the mayor wrote regarding the Self-Defense Brigade, according to NBC Connecticut.
The Daily Mail wrote that Arulampalam claimed, “Adding more guns into the midst of trauma, into the midst of pain in our communities, is just going to lead to more deaths.”
Reverend Henry Brown, who spoke for Mother’s United Against Violence, told NBC Connecticut, “We are not supporting any individual patrolling the streets. We are about finding solutions and peace. We don’t need more guns.”
Users on X were in full support of the Self-Defense Brigade: