Residents Rally for a Response to 8 Killings in Newark

• Do Nothing Mayor Sharpe James is Doing Nothing

Two days after four young people were killed in separate execution-style shootings, and three weeks after a similar slaughter, residents of this hard-pressed city rallied on Thursday to demand a response from Mayor Sharpe James, who they said was minimizing the violence. About 30 people showed up for a hastily called rally on the steps of City Hall to complain about the climbing murder rate and what they said was cold indifference from city officials. So far, 85 people have been killed here this year, police statistics show, compared with 83 in 2003 and 68 in 2002. Since Thanksgiving Day, there have been eight murders, the police say, a per capita rate that outpaced New York City during the same period. Members of the clergy, community leaders and friends and relatives of the crime victims said Mr. James, who has been mayor since 1986, had not done enough to address the violence. Russell Yancey, 45, an unemployed computer technician who attended the rally, said he had lost faith in the city's leader, after more than 15 years of support. "Sharpe James is more concerned with himself than with his city," Mr. Yancey said. "He is out of touch with the people who put him in office." [more]

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