Boston Pastor Launches Father’s Day Challenge for Black Fathers to Help Stop Violence – Boston 25 News

BOSTON – A Boston pastor is calling on black fathers in Boston and the nation to “step up” on Father’s Day Sunday and help curb violence in their communities.

The Rev. Eugene Rivers, the founder of the Violence Reduction Task Force, said he challenges black men to mentor young black men in cities like Boston, which continues to struggle with street violence in neighborhoods.

“We call on Black parents across the country to step up, support Black single mothers, and work in strategic partnerships with law enforcement to mentor and supervise Black youth,” he said. Rivers said in a statement Saturday. “We call on black men to join this movement to save the lives of our children.”

Almost all forms of gun violence have increased among black Americans, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The vast majority of gun deaths among black Americans are gun homicides, and black Americans make up the majority of gun homicide victims in the US

Boston police investigate a large crime scene in Dorchester

On average, more than 12,400 black people die from gun violence each year, with 15,548 deaths in 2021 alone, the highest number on record, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Comprehensive Online Data for Epidemiologic Research.

In the nation’s 20 largest counties, black men between the ages of 18 and 25 die from gun homicides at a rate nearly 19 times that of white residents, according to the CDC.

Rivers, a Dorchester pastor whose programs aim to engage churches in curbing youth violence, also called on city leaders to address gun violence in Boston neighborhoods in February.

Rivers is not the only one who has called on the city’s black community to stop the violence on the streets of Boston.

In April, the Reverend Kevin Peterson called on Boston’s black community to hand in their guns after a man was shot and killed in Roxbury.

“We’re also calling on the black community to cease fire. So far, the vast majority of murders this year have occurred in the city’s black community. This has to stop,” Peterson told the ‘April.

“We’re at a point in the black community in Boston where it makes sense for us to call on all black people who have guns in Boston to turn them into local churches, post offices or local police stations,” Peterson said in that moment

Stephen Wells Stepheon Wells is wanted on a warrant for murder and firearms charges in connection with the fatal shooting of Sharon diva Ayuso, 32, who was found shot to death in the area of ​​15 Fermoy Heights in Dorchester on 18 in February, police said. (Boston Police)

Also Saturday, Boston police appealed to the public to help find a 20-year-old South Boston man wanted in the February murder of a Sharon woman in Dorchester.

Stepheon Wells is wanted on a warrant for murder and firearms charges in connection with the fatal shooting of Sharon diva Ayuso, 32, who was found shot to death in the area of ​​15 Fermoy Heights in Dorchester on 18 in February, police said.

Wells was last seen in the South Boston area, and may have a firearm, police said Saturday.

At approximately 8:46 p.m. on Saturday, February 18, Boston officers responded to a ShotSpotter activation at 15 Fermoy Heights in Dorchester.

‘Just a shocking moment’: Family of woman shot in Fermoy Heights speak out ‘Just a shocking moment’: Family of woman shot in Fermoy Heights speak out

When officers arrived, they found Ayuso suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, police said.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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