Dear Ward 8 Residents,

On Friday, January 31st, I called on Mayor Muriel Bowser to declare a State of Emergency for the record number of crime and the violence in the District. I also called on the community at-large to change the direction of our city by participating in the development of a strategic plan that will address the various aspects that impact public safety including:

• Education
• Youth Engagement
• Housing
• Recreation
• Employment

Over the course of the next 3 months my office will host several facilitated engagement sessions. To combat this violence epidemic, I need the participation of our youth, police, the Council, the Mayor's office, seniors, specific neighborhoods, ANCs, nonprofits, government agencies, and other stakeholders to curate this plan.

Join me this is the budget meeting. This is a call to action. We are burying our children. Let's end it. Sign up now: http://tinyurl.com/budgetmeeting8

Regards,



Trayon White, Sr.

• Those released from incarceration since March 11th
•  People working in the informal economy (street vendors, people cutting hair, doing yard work, washing dishes, etc. for cash) and;
• Undocumented residents.

Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White is requesting that the District declare a state of emergency to combat gun violence.

“Our Black and Brown boys and girls are going far too quick in our community,” White said in a press conference on Friday. “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.”

White’s push comes as the District reckons with the fatal shootings of three teenagers so far this year, including two in the past two weeks. On Tuesday night, 15-year-old Jamarid Robinson was shot and killed in Southeast D.C. near his grandmother’s home in Ward 8. Last week, Dayvon Lewis, another 15-year-old Black boy, was fatally shot in Congress Heights. Police found him alone in a car, having sustained a gunshot wound to his back.

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