Jan 29, 2009 10:49 pm US/Eastern
$50 Thousand Reward In Liberty City Shooting
Anyone With Information Is Asked To Please Call Miami-Dade Crimestoppers At (305) 471-TIPS
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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Al Sharpton told a crowd in Liberty City they have to help to stop the violence in their community.
CBS
Less than a week after one of the worst mass shootings in Miami's history, the reward for information that leads to the capture of the person or persons responsible has been raised to $50,000.
Thursday morning the Reverend Al Sharpton spoke to a gathering of about 200 people at the Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Liberty City about their responsibility in helping the police catch a killer.
"It's been said that you can't talk to 'the man' but maybe you didn't get the news, we are 'the man' now," said Sharpton who reminded the crowd that while it's good that Barack Obama was elected president, it is the people of the inner city communities that need to step up and be leaders "for change."
"When you shoot a child in Liberty City, since November 4th, 2008, you may be shooting the next President of the United States," said Sharpton. Shouts of "yes!" and "amen!" reverberated through the crowd.
Sharpton said real change will only come when there's a sea change in community attitudes.
"You want to be a thug, you want to be a gangster, then you go where thugs and gangsters go – you pay the price in jail," said Sharpton to cheers and applause.
The charismatic minister and founder of the National Action Network also bemoaned fear in the community and a 'no snitch' mentality that has stopped people from calling in tips to police.
"It sends a signal that you can kill in our community and that nothing will happen to you."
Sharpton stood among a throng of religious and law enforcement leaders, including Rev. Bishop Curry, president of the Miami-Dade NAACP.
"It's not snitching, it's being a man, it's being a woman, it's being a concerned citizen to say, 'This is wrong and this is the perpetrator,'" Curry told the gathering.
Miami police spokesman Delrish Moss said, "There were a lot of people out there Friday night and the phones should be ringing off the hook. They're not."
Police believe one or two gunmen opened fire last Friday night on a crowd gathered around a sidewalk craps game at the corner of Northwest 71st Street and 15th Avenue in Liberty City. Seven people were wounded and 16 year old Brandon Mills and 18 year old Derrick Gloster were shot dead.
Mill's father, Clyde, and Gloster's mother, Tangela Graham, stood with the ministers and lawmen at Thursday's news conference.
Of the outpouring of concern from Sharpton and other national figures, Graham said, "We're happy that they're here to help, but it's all very painful."
Miami-Dade Police Director Robert Parker renewed his call Thursday for a ban on assault weapons like the ones used in Friday's bloody attack. "There is no reason for them to be readily available to citizens in this community," Parker said.
Deputy Miami Chief of Police Frank Fernandez said, "These are weapons intended for use in a war zone, not an urban neighborhood."
At a second news conference later Thursday afternoon Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Dennis Moss announced that he and other commissioners have dipped into their discretionary funds accounts to raise the total reward in the mass shooting case to $50,000.
Wednesday, Miami-Dade Commissioner Audrey M. Edmonson and other local politicians went door to door and handed out prepaid postage cards to Liberty City residents so they could mail in tips about the shooting, or any other criminal activity, anonymously.
"If this is a way that we can help find the shooters, then I'm willing to walk the streets," said Edmonson.
Commander Bernard Johnson of the City of Miami police department emphasized the success of the mail in program in the past.
Anyone with information can leave an anonymous tip by calling Miami-Dade Crimestoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
Crimestoppers director Richard Masten stressed Thursday that callers identities are zealously protected. Callers are given "tip" numbers that they can later use to anonymously collect a reward.
"We don't ask for your name and can't even tell where you're calling from," Masten said. "We don't have Caller I.D."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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