Peace rally planned today in response to Pasadena violence
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Pasadena-area community leaders have scheduled a peace and unity rally Sunday in response to recent violence that claimed the life of longtime youth sports leader and community activist Victor McClinton, among others.
The event is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on the Euclid Avenue side of City Hall, near All Saints Episcoal Church, at 132 North Euclid.
The event is intended as ‘a large show of peace, unity and strength against the recent shootings and violence in Pasadena,’ said William Boyer, a Pasadena public information officer in a statement. Participating churches ‘are anticipating hundreds of people will attend.’
Pasadena police are providing traffic control, but the gathering is not a city event.
Speakers currently scheduled, according to Boyer, include Rev. Ed Bacon of All Saints; Pastor Jean Burch of Community Bible Church; Pastor Kerwin Manning of Pasadena Church; community leaders William Syms and Porfirio Frausto; and senior officers from the Pasadena Police Department and the Altadena Sheriff’s Department station.
‘According to the organizers, this is a community driven response and call-to-action for peace,’ Boyer said.
About 400 people gathered Thursday evening at Pasadena City Hall to mourn McClinton, who was killed by stray gunfire on Christmas morning.
McClinton, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department technician, died outside his home in the 1900 block of Newport Avenue, near Wyoming Street. A second man, who may have been the target of the drive-by shooting, was wounded by gunfire, according to police.
McClinton, 49, founded the Brotherhood Community Youth Sports League nearly two decades ago and served as its volunteer director, the Pasadena Sun reported.
Two others also died on Christmas day after a driver, being pursued by police, crashed into a minivan. Tracey Ong Tan, 26, of Glendale, and an 11-year-boy from Daly City, Calif., were pronounced dead at the scene. Three other occupants of the minivan suffered serious injuries.
On Friday, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office filed murder charges, with an enhancement for gang activity, against Darrell Lee Williams, 22, of Pasadena, and Brittany Michelle Washington, 21, of Los Angeles. Williams was allegedly driving the Dodge Durango that struck the minivan. Washington was a passenger in the Durango. Two other passengers were not charged. All four occupants of the Durango sustained moderate injuries.
Pasadena police said Williams was a parolee with ties to gangs and that there was a warrant out for his arrest at the time of the incident.
Williams is being held at Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles in lieu of $1.095 million bail. Washington is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood.
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