The outspoken leader of St. Sabina Parish on Chicago's South Side organized an anti-violence march Sunday encouraging community members to break the "code of silence" that is protecting gangs in the neighborhood.
"We will not allow you to kill, we will not back down from you," Rev. Michael Pfleger said while leading dozens of community members on a march, calling out individual gangs in the area by name. (See video above for footage of the march)
The group distributed flyers that called on residents to "stop the shooting" and "snitch" on gangs and gang activity to help law enforcement intercept violent crime, CBS Chicago reports.
"If a flyer is going to let me know that I have to tell someone else to stop shooting and stop killing our kids out here, then, you know, I appreciate this flyer," onlooker Kimberly Brooks told the station.
One of the group's stops was the parking lot of a White Castle on 79th and Loomis, near the church, where 22-year-old Quinton Davis was shot and killed last week, according to WGN.
Davis' mother was one of the voices in the crowd Sunday, according to ABC Chicago. Community activist Andrew Holmes told the station he's confident these demonstrations will have an impact.
"These marches help," Holmes told ABC. "It may not get the message to everybody, but it will get the message to somebody."
Anti-violence marches have been increasingly frequent in Chicago as community activists contend with growing gang violence. A rally following a rash of shootings last summer was marred by the death of a 14-year-old who was shot nearby.