Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, Jan. 4, 2023, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
On Dec. 30, 2022, a 7-year-old boy was shot in the head and killed in west Baltimore. And the mayor of the city had enough. After the shooting, Mayor Brandon Scott issued a scathing statement.
The 38-year-old Democrat Scott has been serving as the mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, since 2020.
“We know that in Baltimore and across the country, after the pandemic, people are dying over dumb sh*t and that’s the reality,” the mayor said to reporters.
Rising crime in Baltimore has made the city one of the deadliest in the country. In 2022, data from Open Baltimore showed that the city recorded 177 homicides in the first six months of the year, making that period the most crime-ridden in over a decade. According to Baltimore police data, the year 2022 ended with more homicides. There were 332 people killed in the city in 2022; but the number was slightly down from the 334 fatal shootings in Baltimore in 2021.
The city is dominated by Black residents, who comprise 60.9 percent of the population.
But some are holding the mayor accountable for the gun violence. “Since he’s been in office, there’ve been over 1,490 people shot in the city of Baltimore where there are over 670 of them dead within two years right here in our city of Baltimore,” Kenny Ebron, a community leader and friend of the boy’s family, told Fox Baltimore. The boy was not named in the media.
While Ebron is blaming Scott, many Black Twitter agreed with the mayor.
“& to the people in the comments talking about “keeping it professional”… Fu*k that and that sugar coating YALL be on. A kid was k*lled, and someone needs to say what we all are thinking. Not some flowery speech,” tweeted AngieFromTexas.
Many praised him for stating the reality of the situation.
“What’s the issue? He’s not lying,” tweeted Shanelle.
Ja’Mal Green, who is running for mayor of Chicago on the Green Party ticket, tweeted, “You are correct mayor @MayorBMScott, it’s time to be intentional and do what needs to be done to save communities all over our country.”
Other tweeted said they could relate to Scott’s frustration.
“Well sometimes you get tired and exhausted of being literally “politically” correct because people are dying of dumb shit these days.,” tweeted Jackie O. Asare.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott talks to reporters at the site of a shooting near Edmondson Westside High School, Jan. 4, 2023, in Baltimore. Police say five boys, believed to be high school students on their lunch break, were shot at a shopping center and one has died. Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said two shooters opened fire, then fled behind the building. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
