CINCINNATI — The last of 16 anti-violence demonstrations across Cincinnati since September featured dozens of advocates from multiple organizations placing fake guns into a casket to "bury" gun violence in the Tri-State, calling for change.
The rally came to Fountain Square at the call of Will-Go Ministry's Gordon Hickland, who has grown sick and tired of gun violence in the city.
Cincinnati police crime data indicates there have been 276 shootings inside city limits in 2023.
Hickland said the casket represents the grim reality of gun violence.
"This casket says, 'This could be you. This could be me. This could be them, my grandkids. This could be your momma because bullets don't care,'" he said.
James C. Battle III of J.C. Battle & Sons Funeral Home brought the casket and two hearses to each of the neighborhoods that advocates in the area identified as regions most in need of an anti-gun message.
"Some neighborhoods don't want us there," Battle said.
He said he still had to go, however, because as a Vietnam veteran, he wasn't backing down from a good cause.
"I took care of the bodies over there and made sure they got home, and now I'm coming home to another war zone?" Battle said. "If I had a wand to stop all the guns I would do it."
Hickland said he can't single-handedly end Cincinnati's gun violence problem, but he called for prayers.
"We just want to say we're tired of it. Stop the violence. We'll pray for you. We'll do whatever we can to stop it," said Hickland.
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