In wake of recent shootings, Day of Peace in Hempstead aims to curb violence

Dozens of Long Island residents celebrated a “Day of Peace” in downtown Hempstead on Saturday to bring attention to three recent shootings in the village, including a Sept. 21 killing during a card game that turned violent.

The event, sponsored by a program of the Garden City-based Family & Children’s Association called Should Never Use Guns (SNUG), also shared information about programs designed to reduce violence and provide support to kids and families in crisis.

“Three shootings, three weeks in a row,” said Matthew Harris, program manager for Hempstead SNUG. “There was no awareness in the community, so we thought it necessary to hold this event to spread awareness of the recent uptick of violence in the neighborhood.”

The first shooting occurred in September, when Maurice Sinclair Thomas, 39, was fatally shot during an argument in a parking lot on Yale Street in Hempstead. Thomas, according to Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly, had been playing cards with friends when he got into an argument with Kane Moore, 30, of Hempstead.

Moore fled the scene and was arrested on Oct. 21 in Detroit by members of the Detroit Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force. Moore was extradited to Nassau on Oct. 31. He pleaded not guilty before Nassau Judge Caryn Fink on Nov. 1 to second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

Two nonfatal shootings occurred the following two weekends, Harris said.

SNUG’s outreach team uses information gleaned from residents, community leaders and social media — wherever they can get it — to intervene before bullets fly and blood spills.

“We work to reduce gun violence by mediating conflict with those at the highest risk of shooting someone and being shot,” Harris said. “That’s what we do.”

SNUG calls its outreach workers “credible messengers.” Harris said they are deeply familiar with the community, which makes it easier to get information about brewing conflicts.

“They have lived experiences that make them qualified for this role,” Harris said, pointing to a group of young men wearing purple hoodies that said “Day of Peace” on the back.

The several dozen people who attended the Day of Peace, held in the parking lot of the Mental Health Association of Nassau, sipped drinks and munched on snacks while music boomed out of a DJ’s speaker.

Many of the speakers at Saturday’s event discussed how gun violence has torn apart families and communities.

Richard Paul, the lead intervention counselor for the violence prevention organization STRONG Youth based in Uniondale, talked about the pain families feel when their loved ones are incarcerated for acts of violence.

“Nobody wants to tell you that they haven’t seen their brother in eight years because he’s spending time in a state penitentiary,” Paul said.

Longtime Hempstead community activist Valerie McFadden told the crowd that at 61 years old, she was ready to cut back on her advocacy work. She told the young people in the crowd that older people have “failed you.”

“We have not produced a voice for you,” she said. “We don’t have any Martin Luther Kings, Malcolm X's, anything. But I am looking at a few.”

With that, McFadden told a group of younger people to step up to a small platform behind her. Then she told the young people it was time to get serious about the work.

“It is time for you to step up,” McFadden ordered the young people. “And take charge of what is happening in your community and your world.”