The leader of a national black religious organization is calling for a boycott of Baltimore by all religious conventions in the wake of the arrest of a 7-year-old.
The Rev. Anthony Evans, a Washington-based pastor and head of the National Black Church Initiative, called for the of faith-based conventions to downtown Baltimore for five years until the officer who arrested Gerard Mungo Jr. is fired.
“We?re notifying black churches nationwide that Baltimore should be off-limits to religious conventions,” Evans said. “We?re serious about being respected.”
He said his organization advocates for better health care for children, and was prompted to act by the arrest of Mungo.
“Our major focus has been preventive health for children, so we?re not going to allow anyone to hurt any one of our children,” Evans said.
Community protests continued Tuesday in front of Baltimore City police headquarters over the arrest and handcuffing two weeks ago of the boy for sitting on his dirt bike.
“It just wasn?t necessary to arrest a 7-year-old,” said Marion Flood, a teacher from Baltimore County who attended the protest. “I don?t see why they would arrest a child.”
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West Baltimore resident Deon Smith agreed.
“It speaks to the fact that the police are at odds with [the] community,” he said.
Police arrested Mungo two weeks ago outside his East Baltimore home. Likisa Dinkins, his mother, was arrested Saturday for impeding an arrest.
Both sets of charges were dropped.
Police spokesman Matt Jablow said protesters should not compare Dinkins to civil rights matriarch Rosa Parks, who sparked the famed Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat to a white man .
“Unlike Ms. Dinkins, Rosa Parks was never arrested seven times in 13 years … Comparing Ms. Dinkins to Rosa Parks does a great disservice to Rosa Parks? immeasurable and enduring legacy.”
Jablow said Dinkins was convicted in a battery charge, but prosecutors dropped the other cases.
City leaders responded angrily to Jablow?s comments.
“My comment had nothing to do with comparing people; it was about how one incident can wake people up in [the] community,” said Marvin “Doc” Cheatham, president of the Baltimore Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
“Mr. Jablow?s comments breed distrust as we try to bring police and the community together,” he said.
“The priority should be arresting the folks responsible for the 65 homicides in the city this year and all of the other violent crimes, not attacking the victim,” said state Del. Jill Carter, D-Baltimore, who is running for mayor.
