A grassroots anti-violence group is calling for no murders in Baltimore this weekend. Baltimore Ceasefire kicked off the Baltimore Peace Challenge early Friday morning with a Facebook video calling for people to type their positive wishes for the city.
The group is celebrating their one year anniversary this weekend and is hosting events throughout the weekend to promote no violence. "Last year, the murder rate was higher than it's ever been," said organizer Erricka Bridgeford in a video posted on on Facebook. "And so, I started fussing about "Somebody should call a ceasefire! Then, I realized, I was that mad because it was something I needed to try to do myself." Bridgeford said her part of the effort was to celebrate life, saying people want to celebrate life in Baltimore. "We are not sandwiches in Baltimore," Bridgeford. "We love to celebrate life."
Over the past year, there have been a number of events to celebrate life whenn the Baltimore Ceasefire rolled around every quarter: peace rallies, basketball tournaments, free concerts and cookouts. In February, ceasefire organizers said the city went 11 days without a murder, adding it was the longest stretch without a homicide since May 2014