(The Center Square) – As Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson push for more community violence intervention funding from the federal government, two anti-violence workers have made news for alleged criminal actions.
Prosecutors say seven men are charged with murder after a crash-and-grab burglary led to a crash and killed a motorist on Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago last week.
CWB Chicago reported that one of the men charged works as an anti-violence peacekeeper. Keller McMillan, 35, also has three out-of-state fugitive warrants and an in-state warrant.
CWB said another anti-violence worker was sentenced to 22 years in prison for carjacking three vehicles and shooting one of the victims in the leg. Jamari Edwards, 22, received the sentence last week.
CWB said Edwards worked with anti-violence groups CeaseFire and Crushers Club.
Crusher’s Club’s chief program officer declined an interview request for this story, saying the group is in a “scheduled pause” for external interviews.
Crushers Club employs teens age 14 and up before placing them in community businesses. According to the organization’s website, 90% of the program’s youth stay out of the criminal justice system.
Retired Riverside, Illinois Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said many so-called “peacekeepers” have criminal backgrounds.
“When you see these individuals being arrested by [Chicago police] and they’re also participating in violent crimes, I mean, what does that say?” Weitzel asked.
Pritzker and Johnson have repeatedly called for President Donald Trump to restore funding of anti-violence programs.
Earlier this month, Pritzker called on the president to send federal taxpayer money to Chicago instead of troops to fight crime.
“I would love it if he would restore funding for police, would restore funding for violence interruption programs, which we are the best in the country at, I might add,” Pritzker said.
The governor met with community violence intervention workers Sept. 3 at Metropolitan Peace Academy in Chicago.
Weitzel said there is no data to reflect the performance of anti-violence interruptors.
“How about actually committing crimes while they’re working, or profiting from tax dollars? Let’s face it. It’s a jobs creation program. That’s what this is. I wouldn’t even call this violence interruption or whatever legal name they use, ‘the peacekeepers.’ This is a job creation program by Mayor [Brandon] Johnson and Governor Pritzker to, what they feel, put people to work, get them on a steady paycheck, maybe,” Weitzel told The Center Square.
Illinois, Cook County and Chicago taxpayers have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on anti-violence programs over the years. Pritzker’s office announced the Illinois Office of Firearm Violence Prevention has spent more than $375 million to “reduce violence and support Community Violence Intervention (CVI) programs.”
