U.S. Rep. Danny Davis Calls For 'State Of Emergency' After Grandson's Murder
By Stephen Gossett in News on Nov 21, 2016 4:30PM
Two days after the murder of his grandson, and one day after the arrest of the child’s suspected killers, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis on Sunday called for a declaration of a “state of emergency” in high-crime areas of Chicago, Politico reports. "It is a national problem," he said.
"I would call upon every unit of government to call a state of emergency need for these communities. So yes, I think we need immediate help. We don't need something that's going to take five or six years," Davis told Politico "There are many inner-city communities throughout Illinois, especially in the Chicago metropolitan area, that need this kind of economic and social development."
Davis' grandson, Javon Wilson, 15, was fatally shot in the head in his Englewood home on Friday after an argument that, according to the Chicago police communications director, that may have been over shoes. A 16-year-old boy and 17-year-old girl have both been charged with first-degree murder, police announced on Saturday.
Politico reporter Natasha Korecki wrote that Davis “does not want a paramilitary state” but rather hopes to allocate more funds “boosting gang intervention, after-school programs, tutoring, job placement, mentor programs and economic development.”
Davis reportedly floated the return of midnight basketball, one of the preeminent bogeymen in the minds of conservative pundits during the '90s.
Davis, according to Politico's Illinois Playbook:
“One thing that I think worked really well—the Midnight Basketball Program—young adults, especially those who were beyond curfew age, would have an opportunity to be part of the organized sports program of going to gyms to play basketball. Some of the games would take place at Midnight. And thousands of young adults were involved in the effort and in the program.”
Davis also said he agrees with Newt Gingrich "in terms of (gun violence) being a national problem." In a Twitter screed that ultimately called for federal intervention, the former House speaker wrote that Chicago's violence problem is "worse than Ferguson, etc."
"What the federal government can do, especially as it relates to urban, inner-city America, is invest resources that would help create jobs," Davis said.
In a statement released after Wilson's death, Davis wrote that "better education, more supervision after school activity" and "better parenting" might have prevented the killing. In his interview with Politico, Davis said that any potential federal solution would involve some manner of added gun restriction and enforcement.