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Subscribe to RSSHundreds marched through the streets of Chicago on Saturday to protest the city’s violence that claimed 6-month-old baby Jonylah Watkins on March 12.
The demonstration began at 10 a.m. Dulles Elementary School at 63rd and Calumet Streets and continued down to 65th and Maryland Streets.
The group chanted throughout their walk, shouting, “Stop the violence,” and, “You save my baby, I’ll save your baby.”
Police said father Jonathan Watkins told them he was changing the diaper on his 6-month-old daughter, Jonylah Watkins, on Monday when someone came up behind him and started shooting. Sources told NBC Chicago on Wednesday police had their doubts about that story.
The girl suffered multiple injuries to her little body and died the morning after the shooting. A medical examiner source told NBC Chicago the damage to her thigh, shoulder, lung live and bowels may have been caused by a single bullet.
Jonathan Watkins, police said, has ties to Chicago gang the Gangster Disciples and has an extensive criminal record. Police records show he's been arrested 39 times and was likely the shooter's intended target. Numerous weapons violations and an attempt to steal his car back from police after it was impounded are among the previous charges against the father.
"He paid for his crime. He's fine with that. We're not trying to hide from that. We're not ducking and dodging from that," Pastor Corey Brooks, acting as the family's spokesman, said Thursday night. "But that's not the issue. The issue is a baby got shot and killed and we need everybody to stay on point and stay on focus on what happened."
Jonylah Watkins' funeral has been scheduled for March 19. Brooks said basketball star Derrick Rose has offered to pay for the services.
An $11,000 reward stands for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the shooter.
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When you start shooting children someone loses a portion of their welfare check and that is not going to be tolerated in the Chicago black community!
the gang bangers were targeting the father not the baby ! however it is remarkable shooting from a moving car to hit a small target so many times and yet you watch police officers trained in firearms standing still a point blank range and empty their clips and MISS EVERYTHING !
maybe the police academy needs to hire some of these thugs to show them how to shoot !
Obama's home town. Its a small picture into what the rest of the US will be soon :)
Mike - it wasn't a drive-by. He walked out of a nearby gangway (appropriately named), fired multiple times into the minivan and then ran across the street and jumped in a van and sped away.
It boggles my mind that these communities somehow justify this type of behavior from within. I can hear it now, well he DID post that remark on FB, what else did he expect. Seriously, these animals are running around shooting people for anything and yet their own communities don't grab them by the neck and set them straight.
Outsiders can't fix what is going on in these communities. Even the pastor was just talking about how Chief Keef was just misunderstood and then one day out of jail he was stirring up gang trouble taunting rival gang bangers. The alderman in this case met with the local gang leaders and asked them to not target civilians. WTF. Really? That was the message? Hey, we're cool with you gang banging and shooting up the neighborhood daily, just try not to hit innocent people. Its a joke.
Multiple shots fired, ONE of which hit the baby. And the shooter came up BEHIND the father.
Now....what didn't the father get hit ???
Yep, I would have doubts about his story also.
If the folks in Chicago want to stop the violence.....go sit on Mr. Emanuel's front porch and the entrance to city hall.
Nah, remember what he said: "Why let a disaster go to waste". //para-phrase//
Hey libs, you keep telling us we don't need guns to protect ourselves because the police will always be there to protect us. Really? You mean that baby is still alive and it was just a made up story by Media Matters? Oh and I'm also wondering if you slept through the Supreme Court decision a number of years ago which ruled the police have no duty whatever to protect the individual, only the general public and society as a whole. Hmmm? 2 million people protect themselves each year with a gun. I have to assume you want all of them dead. Right????
Jonathan Watkins is a stellar citizen, isn't he?!
Well Pastor Corey Brooks, the point is he's a gang-banger. He is a thug and a criminal. He hangs out with the scum of society. He is the scum of society! So the point is Pastor Brooks, his daughter wouldn't be dead if he wasn't the loser criminal scum that he is. And it is sad that this little baby girl had to suffer because of it.
And because he is scum, this story sounds pretty iffy.
No matter how many people were around when the shooting occurred, I'll wager that, "Ah dint see nuffin, ah dunt know nuffin, ah dint hear nuffin", will be the responses to police questions. Poor vision is an epidemic in the "hood".
All should watch at least 24 hours of "The First 48". There is a culture out there that no politician will honestly confront.
Now this couldn't have been a drug deal that went bad and the dad is just making up some crap to make himself look less of a scumbag? Some people want to see the "smoking gun", I want to see the stinking diaper. This is looking far less about an innocent child being wrongfully taken from this world, than a father putting his daughter in harm's way to score some dope.
Incomplete story, but no surprises here... just another day in gun free Chicago!
I see the usual liberal crowd isn't up in arms on this one, must be a black on black crime. No 'George Zimmerman' to suffer their outrage! I'm curious as to why NBCNews posted this? While a horrible crime, certainly not worthy of liberal outrage or even concern!
Why has it taken so long to do something about it??? How many YEARS has this gone on in Chicago and all you hear is "this has to stop?" Obama and the great mayor of Chicago have done nothing!! But, they have the nerve to try to pass 'gun control'? These killings aren't done by legal weapons. If these thugs know there isn't any thing to stop them, then these killings will go on for ever. I can't imagine a mother who wouldn't go to lengths to protect their children. THEY aren't the ones with weapons. It would make a BIG difference if they were armed. Sad. We're leaving the victims unprotected. Why?
I Think, you need stronger gun laws in Chicago. Oh I forgot, you have some of the strongest, so what seems to be the problem Chicago. Maybe the mayor is the problem, maybe the corrupted police force is the problem. Seems like you have a King coming from your city, that's right your all on the government payroll now maybe we found the problem. Get off of welfare that your king has put you on, get off food stamps and go get a job making real money. Then you won't have to shoot up the city, BOY WHAT A CONCEPT. If you can't find a job, go talk to your King Obama and demand he do something like be a leader.
If Chicago, or any other city, wants to stop this senseless violence, they need to target the gangs with a vengence. Most of the police force already know who the gangbangers are. Every time a gang member is arrested, his face and tattoos are photographed and his fingerprints are recorded in a national database. Taking firearms away from law abiding citizens only makes the gangbangers job easier.
Imagine if 2 countries went to war and only one side was allowed to use weapons.
The sad truth is that if gangbangers are not targeted by law enforcement, innocent people will be getting killed at a much higher rate and soon.
Quit your stupid marching and start killing gangbangers where ever you find them. That will solve your murder of innocents problem. Force the gangs out of existence. Throw your legislators and police into the streets and take over justice by the people. It's obvious the legislators and police could care less or they would have eradicated the gangbangers by now. Declare martial law in the worst areas.
Riley, that's exactly right! IL and Bozobama's town has some of the STRICTEST gun control laws in the country, and this is the kind of crap Bozobama wants to export to the whole US, where the criminals can get and use all the weapons they want, but when a person wants to get a gun for self-protection, oh, no, we can't have that. Right, Bozobama.
Should have marched door-to-door of the gang-bangers & dealt with them.... once & for all....... rid Chicago of the criminals.... course, they'd have to start with City Hall...........
It's more than BHO's hometown, this took place in his home district where the magical mystery tour to the White House got started. Did a fine job organizing the community didn't he?
Mark from Lake Tahoe says, "I see the usual liberal crowd isn't up in arms on this one, must be a black on black crime."...Hey, Mark, I'm no liberal, in fact, I think Marie Antoinette was an f'ing communist for even suggesting that providing people with bread is a proper function of the central government. Guess what, Mark, I'm not exactly up in arms over this either. In fact, I don't much give a fcuk what the "OJ didn't do it" crowd does to each other. Another one bites the dust.
This was a horrendous event. All those with the sick, inhumane comments concerning race, welfare, and so on (like wierdscience) are just plain @!$%#s. Don't expect sympathy when something terrible happens to you ... or when you arrive at your final destination.
Indiana supplies the guns to Chicago. Having gun laws won't help unless all states have the same laws.
Protesting this violence and rightly so. Arm the people and start taking back the streets again. Stop the gangbangers in their tracks and get rid of them. Don't blame it on guns-blame it on the mindset and what it does with the guns. Don't disarm law abiding people and take away their Constitutional rights.
Chicago toughest gun laws in US a liberal democratically run city and A TOTAL FAILURE!
Now Obozo the Clown wants to bring the FAILURE to the rest of the Country
A march.
Really.
Where's Jesse and Al? Right.
A march. Well angry citizens, who march, how about marching into gang territory and forcing them out?
Yeah, like you'll turn on your own.
Take it all the way or don't march at all.
The march couldn't have been that important, where were Sharpton, Jackson and Emanuel? All it takes is the mention of Gangster Disciples and the so-called leadership of the Black community and the mayor of Chicago never crawled out of the woodwork. Where's the opportunistic little troll of the Obama administration, when there's a crisis going to waste? Party of the people my aching backside!!
My sincere condolences to the family of this beautiful little girl, as a grandparent of mixed race children I can truthfully say that she looked just like them and this story makes me pity the fools who extinguished this precious little life. The "rats in the van" will pay.
Wait, aren't guns banned in Chicago? Where were the police? At the donut shop?
The "gang bangers", "drug cartel members" and the "felons" didn't get the memo about the banned guns.
Chicago at night is like a Viet Nam fire fight, the Cops don't care and won't risk their lives because the people in the hood would let them bleed to death on the street before they helped. It's a jungle and societal problem starting with "who is the babys daddy".
Its encouraging to see a Chicago child shooting story where there is an identifiable father.
"...an identifiable father."
Possibly identifiable.
Best example of complete confusion? Father's Day in the "hood".
For the 1,000,000th time - GUNS ARE NOT BANNED IN CHICAGO!!!!
Quick!
Let's take away guns from law-abiding citizens in other states!
Chicago toughest gun laws in US a liberal democratically run city and A TOTAL FAILURE!
Now Obozo the Clown wants to bring the FAILURE to the rest of the Country
Yea PIGLizard
Guns aren't banned in Chicago ONLY THE CRIMINALS HAVE THEM
The people marching against gun violence are the same people who voted for the politicians who dis-armed them.
How stupid can they be?
If the citizens had kept their guns from the get-go, it's likely that that the gangstas wouldn't have taken the stronghold.
What part of the country where where the citizens can defend themselves really has a gun violence/gang problem?
It doesn't say whether they were marching against gun violence or just violence in general, but I share your sentiment. This was obviously a gang shooting, and no gun laws would have ever stopped this from happening.
Exactly.
In Chicago only the bad guys have guns.... and they like it that way! Pretty sure that they support Obama's stance on gun control!
This is Obummer and the Demo dogs way take away the guns from honest people and let the animals roam the streets. Detroit and Washington Dc are two other demo dog controlled problems.
@champagnesabre The citizens are the gangbangers. These gangs aren't a few isolated groups. In the areas these crimes occur the majority of the population are gang members. Bringing this under control will never happen because the population infesting the area is the cause of the problem. When the community leaders are OK with a person arrested 39 times being free & continuing their chosen career of crime there is no hope for improvement.
10 to 1, that 'Daddy' voted for Rahm and Obama, if he can write without spray paint.
I guess if you choose the life of a violent criminal there's a chance you and people around you are gonna get shot.
called what goes around comes around
Google "Chicago gangs" !
See a problem??
Barkin' Gil,
Seems nothing has really changed in Chicago since the gangster era of the 1930's. Just a different set of faces is all.
Mickey, what goes on in Chicago today would have made Al Capone blush. And then barf.
No country, city, or neighborhood will change unless the people decide to change.
No amount of laws will stop people who don't obey laws.
Chicago police can't control gangs, so they try to "contain" them.
What a joke!!
"Sources told NBC Chicago on Wednesday police had their doubts about that story"
Really,ya think?
The "father" was either the shooter,and missed his intended target,or the other gang-bangers that were trying to kill him hit the baby.
The gang-bangers can't shoot straight-it's impossible to shoot accurately when your gun hand is held over your head-with the gun held sideways-and your non-shooting hand is holding up your pants!
LOL
A link demonstrating gangsta' style shooting. Hilarious, but true!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDnEkFSMRik
The sagging pants started in the 90's. The person wearing the pants was to be an immitation of a person who was incarcirated and had his belt confisgated. It's a gangsta signiture.
You heard right, Reno...basically translates to "don't beat me I'll be your b*tch"
Who in their right mind would want to emulate this sartorial trend in the civilian world? Losers?? Dimwits?? OGs that miss being bent over in the shower??
Did they loot a Foot locker afterwards? Where was Jesse and Al?
Stay on point? Stay focused? The father should be jailed for even being in the vicinity of his own child considering the choices he himself chose to make. Execute the killer, jail the father as an accomplice.
"I would change career plans and start robbing banks." Yes, and John Dillinger said, "That's where the money is." However, it seems banks are the only entities that can afford and obtain really good protection these days. Knocking over the corner grocery is lots lower risk.
Arrested 39 times. How the hell was he out and about with a baby? But disarm the public.
Ah, Progressive Land . . .
Stupid post. If you ever dealt with Chicago cops, you would know they will arrest you for breathing while black.
Looks like you missed this in the article.
Now tell me why the father is not in jail.
You want meaningful, common sense gun control? Life in prison with no parole for any conviction that is gang and gun related. In a gang and have a gun? Buh-bye. Disarm the criminals first and then we can talk about mine.
Remember how Australia was founded? Maybe we should just make criminals test subjects for the space program. A little trial and error with a colony on Mars. Nothing too extravagant. Left-over space suits, a couple of tents, and some duct tape. Don't we have plenty of ICBMs collecting dust we could use as lift vehicles? We could always ask the Russians or Chinese (and soon the Iranians or N. Koreans) for a ride as well.
Who are they marching against? Each other?
Nah, they are hoping to start a riot. Hasn't been a really good riot in monkeyville since flat screens came out. The great thing about flat-screens, you see, is they won't get a hernia running down the street with them. Now THAT is true "health care reform."
Monkeyville? A little baby has lost her life and that's a comment you see fit to write? Wow.
They should march right to the Illinois branch of the NRA, who did everything they could to give guns to gangbangers. They alone are responsible for this child's death.
ExYahooUser, dont you have to go out and spend some foodstamps? Someone like you is who let a 39 time loser out on the streets.
Ex yahoo,
The NAACP, the SPLC, Jesse and Al, and uncountable others, are responsible; not the NRA.
Sad, folks read the same insane claims, and begin to believe the tripe. Correction, they really do not believe it, they just parrot. THAT, is really sad.
Exyahoouser is simply one more of a sea of trolling douchebags here. He has the IQ of a sea slug, and the impact of an extremely vile fart - everyone wants to move away from him as far and as fast as possible. Don't waste time trying to argue with douche-boy, but just insult, demean, and deride him. He just laps it up.
The baby is probably better off dead than being raised by an idiot like her father. He probably got shot at for wearing the wrong color bandana wrapped around his head. Makes perfect sense!
Wake Up: That was even more ignorant than most of the other posts on here, if that's even possible.
So the baby deserved to get brutally shot to death?????? Shut the @!$%# up! Better yet, kill yourself!
Why doesn't Obama and his corrupt horde of Demoncat Mayors "DISARM THE AMERICAN GANGSTERS" instead of the Law Abiding people? Why isn't combating Gang Warfare in the United States the #1 priorty of our President? Why did Obama via Holder Arm gangs in Mexico who killed a lot of UNARMED citzens?
What happened to the 100 AKA stolen in Atlanta, is Holder now arming the Gangs of Atlanta??? Why does Hollywood and the Media almost SING THE PRAISES of Gangs and Gangsters, creating Gang idols on TV??
How come the Media is not playing up the fact that the "Sagging Trousers Trend" is an advertising technique of MALE PROSTITUTES in Jails and Prisons letting the switch hitters know their available for Sex?? Instead they almost praise them and corrupting our youth into thinking their cool!!
SO, why is the whiney Mayor of Chicago NOT GOING AFTER THE GANGS!!! Because they contribute a lot of money to the Demoncrat Leaders???
eddie s - gang members are corrupting "our" youth??? Hey, if you're a parent, isn't it YOUR responsibility to teach your kids right and wrong, and not allow them to be corrupted in this way? Funny, you all don't hesitate to put down black parents for not doing their job; what about you? Not as easy as you say, perhaps. And, while we're on it, let's talk about the priests and the corrupting they've done . . .
Oh no bleeding heart! It takes an entire village to raise a child, remember? If your village happens to be Chicago... well, you're f**ked.
The primates are on the march. Again, they are blaming whitey for their plight. They are following Rev. Corey Brooks who says he is the man of his people but who lives in an $812,000 home (thanks to Tyler Perry).
Best advice: Get out of chicago.
Wrong, gangsters, druggies, thugs, please stay in Chicago and kill each other off as quickly as possible. You know its the right thing to do for the rest of the country. Step up and aim better.
pgulrich, good idea.
Ban diaper changing.
Whites are crazy if they live in Chicago. It is time for re-segregation. Get out while you can. Let the blacks live together in their own filth. Than, they have no one to blame but themselves and the useless black politicians they voted in office (only because they're black). I feel bad about the baby but they all are black. Thank God the child wasn't white.
Crap, i accidentally hit the "up" button. Certainly could never support this garbage.
You, Mr. Voice, are a creep. "Thank God the child wasn't white"??? I take it back: you are a low-rent, ignorant, callous, ignorant, un-educated, ignorant, racist, ignorant, bigoted, ignorant, judgmental, ignorant, unknowing, ignorant, cretinous, ignorant, illiterate, imbecilic, uncultured, obtuse, shallow, unlearned, witless creep. I pray to God that you have no children.
The child is dead, it does not matter what color she was. VA you are an example obscenely racist white trash. AND I am a 55 year old white woman.
Thank you for clarifying that you're a 55 year old white woman. I'm still trying to figure out why that would be relevant, but thanks just the same.
Is VoiceAmerica ignorant?
Clarifying so I can't be accused of using the race card, or being accused of being a stupid young liberal since it isn't about either, rather about a baby who will never get the chance to grow up...
Some people you have to explain everything to. They just can't reason it out.
TJ Harris...be patient they're seeking a couple of active brain cells to rub together in the hopes of making a spark jump across the synapses. The activities of those who delve into ad hominem or racial attacks in a discussion are contrary to intelligent discourse. Taking the high road is often a brutal path, but at some point brings a reward.
Deborah...an effusive response that shouldn't risk exposure of any possible shortcomings with comprehending polysyllabic syntax. At times one does have to play to the level of the subject. D'ya suppose he'll get the drift about ignorant?
Stop and frisk the marchers for a start.
Been arrested 39 times. Multiple times for gun violations. But he's wandering the streets with a baby. What's wrong with this picture?
Unless you are a bipolar elected thief like JJJr., its time for a 39 strike rule in Illinois, after that, its communiity service for you buddy. One whiff of an old folks home and you are toast, player.
How dare he take responsibility for his child? His actions could destroy the entire culture of South Chicago and had to be stopped.
Every white in this country should own an AR-15 or some similar assault rifle. And they should take shooting and safety classes. This gang violence is only going to get worst. Those gangsters will be less apt to venture out of Chicago into white neighborhoods if they know that, at any given time, there are ten AR-15's pointed at their Lexus. Hey blacks, stay in Chicago and kill each other. Don't come out into our nieghborhoods.
An AR-15 is NOT an assault rifle!
If you want to be armed, fine.
But make sure you are trained and know how to use what you buy.
And for God's sake learn the proper classifications of weapons.
People who misclassifiy are only helping the anti-gun nuts to disarm us.
And your racist remarks do not help matters either.
I looked and looked, and couldn't find any posts from you regarding that other big gang problem in Chicago - the mafia. Oh, that's right - that's a cool WHITE gang and there are really cool movies and TV shows about them, so it's okay, right? And I'll bet you have no idea of the damage the mafia has done to Chicago and other places.
Deb, there is no more mafia in Chicago. That went away back in the 70's. The open-air drug markets and all the street-level and mid-level drug trade is controlled by blacks. And the blacks answer directly to the mexican cartels.
Italians are "White Europeans". Also, Hitler considered them part of the "master race".
VA, you should be gutted.
VA, you should be President.
@Deborah,Don't you know that white people aren't in gangs,they don't gangbang,they go solo when they're SLAUGHTERING children.
Your not a Voice for any America I know.
You do know it was White People in robes who fired the shots don't you?
Are you serious. You act as if whites don't kill. Yes there is a problem in the black comminties but white communities are not exempt. Umm the school shooting to name 1. The reality is the nation as a whole has its issues. Regardless of race, there are problems all over.
Gun control people strike again. All these shooting makes you wonder if maybe the gun control organiZations are not causing them to get their way!!!!!
Where are you marching to? What are you marching for? YOU, the marchers, are at fault for this, not the police. YOU know where the gangs are, YOU know where they live, YOU know what they have done. Stand up and tell the police about it. Start making phone calls. Report what you know. Don't blame the police for shooting a known gang banger that draws a gun (yes, I know, another city another day) and then turn around and blame them for not being there to save a baby. You cannot tie someones hands behind their back and then expect them to save you when you are drowning. Are the police crooked? Call the FBI and tell them what you know.
Stand up and take back your streets or quit marching and stay hidden in your homes. Where is the outrage? Where are the angry citizens storming the drug houses and ransacking them? Where are the outraged citizens standing in front of the gang hangouts chanting derogatory comments and demanding justice? One of you marchers knows who killed that baby... the ball is in your court. Marching does nothing except empty your homes for the hoodlums to rob. Start doing something or go home and keep doing nothing.
You want businesses and investors to come back and provide jobs? Give them somewhere worth coming to instead of somewhere worth leaving. Take it back... YOU are the only ones that can do it.
Rev. Corey Brooks has arranged this march. He does this for his own self-interest. He wants to become the new Al Sharptongue. Blacks will always follow the one with the biggest mouth. That's why rap is so entrenched in the black culture. Corey's church received a $1.2 million donation from producer Tyler Perry. Three months later, he bought an $812,000 home. Go figure.
I did the math. It pretty much says and tells all you need to know about "Reverend" Corey Brooks, who seems to think he is heir apparent to Jesse. Same goals. Same M.0. Gee, who'da thunk?
Race always seems to be brought up. Perhaps it does play a role, but where does that fault lie? Can you banish people into a forgotten realm that you custom built for them and expect them not to adapt to the environment that was created for them? After years of denying opportunity and equality, how do you expect someone to react? To throw out a quote made famous by my favorite actress, Drew Berrymore, in Ever After:
“For if you suffer your people to be ill-educated, and their manners to be corrupted from their infancy, and then punish them for those crimes to which their first education disposed them, what else is to be concluded from this, but that you first make thieves and then punish them.”
― Thomas More, Utopia
Let's not bring race into it unless we want to turn the finger and point at the original source. A corrupt preacher is no better than a corrupt politician and his motives are not an issue here. What is an issue is the motives, or more the motivation, of the hundreds that participated in the march. Without their continued action it is just another waste of time. A meaningless gesture protesting the results of a war in which they surrendered many years ago. They gave the neighborhood away through inaction, and the gangs will continue to rule through that same inaction.
Hey Disc,
I grew up on the south side of Chicago and I went to school there. That meens I got the same education, had the same oppertunities and was not forgotten. I managed to do OK. stop blaming others. We have affiritive action, black buisness groups, help for college. So don't blame the system. And please don't quote Drew Berrymore!!!
What's even more unbelievable about this story is that a father was changing a diaper.
The father is a 'street lieutenant' for a drug crew. Their job is to observe, troubleshoot, and direct soldiers if need be. Lietenants are usually unarmed but are in control at the street level. Other gangmembers take orders from them. This is why the opposing gang attacked him. This was a territory hit.
Why is that so unbelievable?