PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Philadelphia activist who went on a weeks-long hunger strike calling for Mayor Jim Kenney to take action to stop gun violence has renewed his effort.
"My intention is to remain on this hunger fast until Mayor Kenney does something," says Jamal Johnson, a 63 year-old Marine veteran and activist.
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Earlier this year, he spent 26 days refusing to eat as he sat outside of City Hall each day in protest. His goal: Convince Kenney to act on City Council resolution 200447, which calls for a coordinated, COVID-19-style response to gun violence.
Johnson ended the protest Feb. 12, he says, after the mayor met with him.
"He acknowledged the resolution and said he would do his best to implement the things in the resolution," says Johnson.
However, weeks later, there have been more shootings. And this week Johnson says he is fed up.
"People in the neighborhoods are living in fear. They don’t want to go outside at night. They don’t want their children outside. We should not have to live like this. The mayor needs to use all the tools available to him to bring us to safety and give us a sense of safety in our communities."
As of Friday, 83 people have died by homicide in Philadelphia this year, and nearly 400 have been shot, including eight people at Olney Transportation Center two weeks ago. On Tuesday, a 15-year-old girl died after being shot in the head in West Philadelphia.
"We can’t just keep hearing speeches and having conversations," Johnson said. "We need action."
A spokesman for the mayor issued the following statement via email:
"Mayor Kenney met with Mr. Johnson just a few weeks ago to both acknowledge his work and check on him to make sure he was well, out of concern for Mr. Johnson’s well-being.
While the Mayor acknowledged Council’s passage of Resolution 200447, he hasn’t changed his position, since he declared gun violence a public health emergency in 2018. While the emergency declaration on opioids made critical funding available to respond to that crisis, that was long before the onset of COVID-19, which forced the City to close an unprecedented $750 million budget gap last year, with a bleak financial picture ahead of us as we prepare for a potential nearly half a billion dollar shortfall in the next Fiscal Year.
After the mass shooting in Olney a few weeks ago, the Mayor announced that we are preparing to have more regular public updates on gun violence because we believe the public deserves greater transparency and accountability. More details will follow soon.
Lastly, the Administration continues to revise its policies to better address these issues, and is revamping the Philadelphia Roadmap to Safer Communities gun violence reduction plan. The updated Roadmap will be released this month, with more information to come soon.
We do want to underscore that while we support the rights of all residents to peacefully protest, we do not encourage anyone to take actions that may jeopardize their health in the process. The Administration looks forward to working with all community members who have a wide range of views on this issue as we work toward creating safe and healthy communities together.”
As for Johnson’s health, he says he is prepared to do what it takes to make this hunger strike lasts as long as it’s necessary to make change.
The mayor’s office says, while they support the right to protest, they do not encourage anyone to take action that jeopardizes their health in the process.