Chicago Pastor Vows Walk To D.C. To Draw Attention To Violence As A Mental Health Issue
A pastor on Chicago’s South Side is alerting the press that he’s preparing to walk to Washington D.C. in order to demand that President Joe Biden declare violence a national mental health crisis.
On Sunday (May 30), Pastor Anthony Williams of King International Ministry told reporters he sent a letter to Biden, asking him to sign an executive order making all violence a public health crisis.
Williams, who lost a son to gun violence, said if his letter goes unanswered he is prepared to bring a crowd to the nation's capital and ask for his request in person.
"Violence is a public health crisis. The CDC has called it not just an epidemic, they've called it a pandemic,” Williams said, according to WBBM 780.
“So we've got to address this issue of violence being a pandemic. It is going to destroy us all. We cannot continue to accept an abnormal behavior as a normal behavior. We can't live like this anymore.”
This isn’t the first time Williams was willing to go to the maximum for his cause. Last September, WBEZ reports that the pastor went on a hunger strike in order to bring attention to the violence in the Windy City.
It is unknown if Biden received the letter. However, in April, Illinois governor JB Pritzker signed a new law declaring violence a public mental health crisis in the state.
