Jeff Sessions thanks Ten Point Coalition, says it’s model for nation
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions walked into Barnes United Methodist Church Monday afternoon.
Sessions greeted a city leaders, pastors and members of the Ten Point Coalition.
Sessions then quickly took a seat. He pulled out a stack of papers and begin to read a prepared statement.
“I also know that you do a lot of work as a mentor to try to inspire our young people to live out their God-given potential. Thank you for that as well. That goal is at the heart of what Indianapolis Ten Point Coalition is all about,” said Sessions.
During the course of his statements, Sessions gave some startling statistics, quoted from Heather MacDonald at the Manhattan Institute.
“She found that nearly 900 more African Americans were killed in 2016 than the year before and that total number of black homicide victims was at 7,881 — over 1,300 more than the number of white victims,” said Sessions.
Sessions told the captive audience he believes Ten Point Coalition’s model should be duplicated across the United States.
Once Sessions completed about 15 minutes of prepared statements, members of the media were asked to leave so the group could engage in a private conversation with Sessions.
Those inside talked for about 45 minutes, sharing solutions and strategies for tackling criminal activity in neighborhoods.
Just before 4 p.m. Sessions resurfaced again. This time he walked the streets with Ten Point near the intersection of 30th and MLK streets.
He talked with those in the crowd. He shook hands, and then he walked away to his awaiting caravan without answering any questions.
Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill took several questions, as did Rev. Charles Harrison with the Ten Point Coalition.
“We had a wonderful meeting inside, very productive. We talked about the success here in Indianapolis,” said Hill. “Our objectives and goals is to spread the Ten Point model across Indiana and the nation,” Hill continued.
Harrison has been invited to speak to the U. S. Justice Department in Washington in a couple of weeks. He believes Monday’s talks will push the conversation on tackling urban youth gun violence, and black-on-black homicides.
“We want to raise the conversation to a national level and not just on a local level. I think you will see leaders all across the country raise this issue to a national level and ask for the type of resources you are seeing with the opioid crisis,” said Harrison.