The grandfather of an 11-year-old boy who was shot and killed on Independence Day spoke out against growing calls to defund police departments across the country, saying it will not help the black community.
John Ayala said his grandson, Davon McNeal, was killed when shots rang out as he went to grab a charger and earbuds at a cookout, according to FOX 5.
"You have a lot of people that just do not value life at this time. We still need more organizations, more of us when I say us, people in the black community to start going into the communities and talking to people," Ayala told Fox News.
"People feel that if they have a dispute the only way to handle it is with gun violence. We are going to go after the police officers when they hurt someone that looks like me, we need to go after the people that look like me that hurt people that look like me. We can’t take money from the police department we need the police. You take the police from then we wind up having less police officers in the streets, less detectives, it’s not going to work. The crime is going to get worse," he further warned.
Ayala's warning comes at a time when different cities have taken steps to either cut their department's budget, like in New York City or Los Angeles, or do away with the force entirely, like in Minneapolis.
"We’re protesting for months, for weeks, saying, 'Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter.' Black lives matter it seems like, only when a police officer shoots a black person. What about all the black-on-black crime that’s happening in the community?" Ayala further told Fox 5.
