Black leaders call for more anti-violence aid after killings
By DAVE COLLINSApril 14, 2021 GMT
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Black lawmakers and community group leaders called Wednesday for more federal and state aid for chronically underfunded anti-violence programs in Connecticut’s cities, following the killings of a 3-year-old boy and a teenager in Hartford last weekend.
Gathered outside the state Capitol, members of the legislature’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus said during a news conference that the state has not done nearly enough over the past several decades to try to curb violence, especially among youth.
They said a lack of aid has contributed to cycles of violence in Hartford, Bridgeport, New Haven and other cities with large Black and Hispanic populations and some of the poorest neighborhoods in the country.