Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Milwaukee Black Panthers Meet With Common Council President
'Milwaukee is in dire conditions, and we need to change it,' King Rick says

6:55 PM CDT Aug 16, 2016
Ben Wagner / WISN

MILWAUKEE —The leader of the Black Panthers in Milwaukee met with the city's Common Council president to press for changes to economic and social issues he says underlie recent violence in a predominantly minority neighborhood.

The leader of the Black Panthers in Milwaukee met with the city's Common Council president to press for changes to economic and social issues he says underlie recent violence in a predominantly minority neighborhood.

"Milwaukee is in dire conditions, and we need to change it," King Rick said as he sat across a table from council president Ashanti Hamilton. "We need to change it by any means necessary. When we're negative in so many statistical categories for African Americans, you're going to have mayhem. You're going to have carnage, and you're going to have chaos."

Hamilton promised he would engage the community to help address the issues and told the leader that "it's a heavy lift."

"Our commitment right now is to try and get some control over what's happening in the neighborhood. We want some peace and calm in that neighborhood," Hamilton said.

Hamilton said the way to achieve progress is through investing in quality education that opens the doors to economic opportunity, and he lamented that the work has become politicized.

King Rick told Hamilton that Saturday's fatal shooting of Sylville Smith was the match that lit the powder keg of issues and resulted in chaos in the Sherman Park neighborhood.

Alderman Bob Donovan supports change but not by any means.

"That kind of rhetoric is inappropriate and doesn't get anything accomplished, and certainly as far as I'm concerned, anybody who breaks the law needs to be held accountable," Donovan said.

The Black Panthers said they will continue to patrol in Sherman Park in an effort to keep people safe. They also plan to continue a push for programs that offer economic and educational equality.

King Rick and four other Panthers met with Hamilton after Police Chief Edward Flynn briefed members of the council on the unrest behind closed doors.

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