http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Samaia/sh%20race%20071813.mp3
Some Connecticut politicians were swift to launch anti-gun campaigns in the wake of the Sandy Hook School shooting. They said the measures are also meant to quell violence in the state's urban communities.
Newtown received 7.7 million dollars in donations since last December. And the state police assigned a state trooper to assist each of the victim's families. The Rev. Henry Brown says it's a tragedy that urban violence is not perceived in the same manner.
"I've seen the money that was donated to Newtown and I've seen families in Hartford. When they had to bury their kids had to beg for money. I've seen families with baskets on the sidewalk where the blood of their child was spilt trying to raise money," he said.
Most recently, however, the case of Trayvon Martin in Florida has generated more attention than local homicides in urban communities.
Addressing Brown on WNPR's Where We Live, Lt. Brian Foley, the commander of Hartford Police Department's Major Crimes Department said it's time for that to change.
"There's young minority men getting killed in Hartford," Foley said.
"I've about had it."
In the past 12 years, there have been about 368 homicides in Hartford, Foley said. Most of the deaths have involved minority men killing minority men, which both Foley and Brown say most people ignore.
On Monday, Brown's organization Mothers United Against Violence is hosting a march against violence in the city's North End.