Anti-gun rally takes to Long Beach streets

Community members, leaders and religious groups came together Tuesday to recognize the ongoing gun violence throughout the North Park Community. Nearly 40 people met outside Christian Light Missionary Baptist Church before marching around the community.

The rally kicked off at about 5 p.m. and was in direct response to the most recent homicide that happened in the area on April 7.

“There was a murder on Good Friday,” said North Park Civic Association President Runnie Myles. “We don’t have them often. But even if they’re once every 10 years, that’s one too many. We’re a small community and there is no justification for the extinction of a life at all in the City of Long Beach.”

Nassau County Police said that after a brief struggle that night, 33-year-old Shawn Usher was shot and killed. Police said Usher had been shot “numerous times.” Officers did not say what had caused the shooting. He was found at Sycamore Court at the Channel Park homes.

Usher was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

“We want peace, we want it to stop,” Myles said. “We need more anti-gun violence in the United States as a whole. We live in one of the most beautiful suburbs in America, one of the most desirable places to live the planet, and it’s just unconscionable the level of violence we have.”

The rally began at Christian Light Missionary Baptist Church, with community leader James Hodge out in front and continued to Channel Park Housing, where the most recent shooting occurred. They marched through the streets in the North Park Area, and around the train station. Some of the streets were closed off to accompany the rally for safety. It ended with local speakers and a prayer at the Evangel Revival Community Church.

“This is a great opportunity for the community of Long Beach to stand together against gun violence,” said Delores Miller, one of the coordinators and president of the Nassau County Unified Council of Clergy. “The members of the North Park community are hurting and we ask our brothers and sisters to join us as we stand to end the hate, end the drugs, and end the hurt.”

Myles said that, especially with the political climate the way that it is, change can be tough. To him, though, it’s not a political issue, it’s a domestic issue. “We all know that domestic issues are the most dangerous issues that our law enforcement has to face because there’s personal investment.”

After the rally, many went off to the city council meeting at 7 p.m. to speak up about the recent news and conflicts between the city and the Martin Luther King Center.