Hartford, Connecticut’s, Mayor Arunan Arulampalam (D) is denouncing residents of a predominately black community for arming themselves to fight violent crime.
The New York Post reported the residents, approximately 40 in all, are calling themselves the “Self-Defense Brigade.” The armed residents patrol the streets of their neighborhood at night and keep an eye on homes and businesses via drones.
The brigade was founded by Cornell Lewis, who told FOX News, “The Democrat machine in Hartford is either unwilling or unable, incapable, of doing it, and people are paying their tax dollars, and they’re not really getting any kind of service. So we want the people to understand, number one, self-defense is not a dirty word.”
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Lewis noted that everyone in the brigade has a concealed carry permit and carries their firearms legally.
The Post noted the brigade was launched “at the behest of Archbishop Dexter Burke of the Walk in the Light Church of God” after two men were shot dead near his church in February.
Mayor Arulampalam released a statement denouncing the group of armed citizens, saying, “Our community has seen so much pain and trauma, and what we need is for those who love this city to do the hard work of healing that pain, not walk around our streets with guns trying to take the law into their own hands.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a pro-staffer for Pulsar Night Vision, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.