Community safety stood at the forefront as state and local officials joined residents Saturday at a church on Detroit’s east side for a rally and march against gun violence.

Hundreds flocked to the Church of the Messiah for its 17th annual Silence the Violence event, one of the largest anti-gun violence marches in the country. A packed audience listened as leaders —including U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Lansing; Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist; Detroit Police Chief James White and Detroit City Councilman James Tate —spoke to attendees before the crowd took their call for peace to the city’s streets.

Officials spoke of the need to combat gun violence through community unity and legislative actions.

“The issue of gun violence is all of our responsibility, every single one of us, and no one’s role is more important than the other,” said Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield. “Elected officials, clergy, organizations, nonprofits, businesses, block club members, everyone has a role to reduce gun violence.”

It’s time to put an end to the cycle of gun violence through action, said Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist.

“There are too many parents who bury children to gun violence, there are too many brothers who bury sisters to gun violence, there are too many children who bury their own parents to gun violence,” Gilchrist said. “This is something that we don’t have to accept.

“It’s our responsibility that we use the tools at our disposal to do everything we can in our power to make sure that people can get to tomorrow, to make sure that families can be whole as they get to next week, to make sure that everyone can have full access to that dream of health and wealth that gun violence has cut short for too many people in this city, this state, and in this country.”

Slotkin told the crowd that gun ownership must be safe and responsible as she recalled learning to hunt with guns as a child and carrying guns in war overseas.

“Michigan is the place where we’re going to break the idea that either you’re a gun owner or you care about the safety of our children,” Slotkin said.

More: Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald launches new foundation to prevent gun violence

A key issue behind gun violence is unsecured firearms, said Wayne County Sheriff Raphael Washington. He encouraged gun owners to keep their weapons safely secured, especially when children are home alone this summer. The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office has free gun locks available to community members.

The event got its start in 2007 with Detroit residents marching in their neighborhood to honor loved ones killed by gun violence, according to organizers. It’s grown over the years to a thousand-person event, including a marching band and community resource fair.

Janice Nash, a retired educator from Detroit, said the event represents an initiative to come together and protect the community — “saving lives, not only children, but everybody,” she said.

Following the speeches, a large, diverse crowd of all ages took to the neighborhood streets, carrying signs and chanting. Led by a marching band, attendees made their way along East Lafayette Street to Van Dyke, then down Kercheval Avenue to East Grand Boulevard before ending back at the church. The procession was flanked by Detroit police on foot, on bicycles, on horseback and in police cars and vans, securing the route and blocking off roads to vehicular traffic.

Residents watched from their windows, front porches and sidewalks as the marching band played, dancers and twirlers performed and marchers shouted chants like “silence the violence” and “this is our city, keep it safe.”

The marching band, Church of the Messiah’s band, is a literacy program that helps lead area high school students to college, said Pastor Barry Randolph. Daron Maravin, a recent graduate of Oak Park High School, played the drums and cymbals in the marching band and enjoyed the opportunity to meet new friends, he said.

“I get to play with people that I never met before. I’ve been playing the drums since middle school, so that got me encouraged to play with them,” Maravin said.

Bringing more voices into the local gun violence prevention movement is key, Nash said, adding:

“The more people that can come aboard to support the cause and get the message across, the better.”

The Detroit Lions are bringing in more competition at kicker, and it’s a name some fans have been pining for.

The Lions are expected to sign former Michigan Panthers kicker Jake Bates to a two-year-deal on Tuesday, the first day he’s eligible after playoffs.

Bates made 21 of 28 field goals this season and finished second in the UFL with 51 kicking points. He visited the Lions on Thursday. And he also visited Washington and Green Bay.

Bates, who played his home games at Ford Field this spring, made a game-winning 64-yard field goal in the Panthers’ season-opening win over the St. Louis Battlehawks and had two other 60-plus-yard field goals this season.

STILL WORKING HARD: Some people get complacent after getting new deal. Not Amon-Ra St. Brown

But as good as he was early in the season, Bates made just 6 of 11 field goals in the Panthers’ final four games and missed a would-be game-winning 53-yarder in the Panthers’ regular season-ending loss to the Birmingham Stallions.

The Stallions beat the Panthers the following week in the UFL playoffs.

The Lions return veteran kicker Michael Badgley and signed former Michigan kicker James Turner as an undrafted free agent.

Badgley made 27 of 31 field goals in parts of the past two seasons for the Lions, but has just three makes of 50-plus yards in that span.

Turner showed massive leg strength and good accuracy in spring workouts, but is not as refined on kickoffs as Badgley.

Bates played as a kickoff specialist in college and before the UFL season had not made a field goal in a game since high school.

Lions general manager Brad Holmes told the Free Press this spring he would consider keeping three kickers, including two on practice squad, because of the NFL’s new kickoff rules that could make kickers more involved in tackling on kickoffs.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

LIVONIA, Mich. (FOX 2) – A Metro Detroit teen overcomes obstacles to achieve his dream of being accepted into The Juilliard School.

“At first didn’t even know I wanted to go to college, I’m like I’m just going to LA and live my life,” said Arthur Gee.

But Arthur, or LA which stands for Little Arthur as he is affectionately called by family and friends, would soon have an awakening.

“Joining this studio, Angie Hanh’s Academy of Dance, I started off with hip-hop but Ms. Angie was like you need to take a ballet class,” he said. “I was like, I don’t know – I don’t think boys do ballet.”

Arthur would soon discover that ballet was indeed his calling.

But as he began to explore ballet he was diagnosed with scoliosis during Covid. The condition means that he has a sideways curvature of the spine that causes pain.

“My back started to hurt really bad, like to the point I couldn’t even dance sometimes,” he said.

But Arthur continued to push and dance his way through it.

“It was like finding a way to persevere through that pain,” Arthur said.

The commitment to his craft allowed Arthur to stand out among other dancers.

“I’m just so proud of everything he accomplishes,” said his mother, Jahmira Taylor. 

Arthur started teaching at his dance school and the high school student – who at first was going to forego college – decided to apply to The Juilliard School, a prestigious performing arts school in New York.

When this 18-year-old received a phone call that he had been accepted, he knew the hard work was paying off.

“That’s all I could say was wow thank you so much for this opportunity,” he said.

But this opportunity comes with a price.

“I was able to win a $52,000 scholarship but that’s just for tuition and housing is still a lot more than that,” Arthur said.

Arthur set up a GoFundMe account hoping the community works to uplift him so he can accomplish his next move.

“I’m studying to get my bachelor of fine arts degree to become a professorial dancer, hopefully join a company, and then eventually become a choreographer,” he said.

If you would like to contribute to Arthur’s GoFundMe, CLICK HERE.

“There’s really no point of stopping when there’s so much further to go,” he said.