EDITORIAL: 4 People Shot This Weekend - Not a Word From Elorza or Candidates Looking to Replace Him

EDITORIAL: 4 People Shot This Weekend - Not a Word From Elorza or Candidates Looking to Replace Him

It was another weekend of violence in Providence. Two women and two men were shot.

Both men, shot in separate incidents, are reportedly in critical condition.

It is unclear how many gunshot victims spark outrage. Clearly, four is not enough.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

For more than seven years, Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza has taken a so-called “knucklehead” approach to shootings.  The mayor diminishes the violence. When a gunman targeted a man in the Providence Place Mall, he famously called the shooter a “knucklehead.”

In the past few years, the shootings have seemed to come in waves. Sometimes the shootings end up as homicides and are tied to gangs and drugs. There were a near-record number of murders in 2021.

Sometimes, the victims are simply people in the wrong place at the wrong time.

While Elorza is immune to shootings, lifetime physical and emotional damage, and death, we are hoping for better from mayoral candidates Gonzalo Cuervo, Nirva LaFortune, Brett Smiley and, if he is actually running, Michael Solomon.

But, so far, no better.

In response to the violence this weekend, the mayoral candidates were silent.

Smiley Tweeted out about dancing and vegan dining. LaFortune was excited about the zoo's birthday. Cuervo hyped his door knocking. And Solomon -- well, he posted a promotional video to Facebook.

There needs to be a transformation of expectation. City leaders need to drop the crutch of statistics. Each time after a brutal and vicious series of shootings or murders, one Providence city official or another cites some statistic that compares the violence to a worse period in the city’s history.

Well, that should make us all feel better.

Except it doesn't. 

Providence needs a mayor that believes the violence is unacceptable.

The candidates recently weighed in on the wave of juvenile crime in the city. It was mostly buzzwords about the need for "community supports" and "wrap-around services" -- no concrete solutions, no sense of urgency, and certainly nothing markedly different than Elorza's failed approach. 

Now, it is clear that four individual shot this weekend is not enough. Not enough for policy changes. Not enough for utterances of disgust. Nor, even, a Tweet.

Not even a social media post offering "thoughts and prayers." 

On to PVDFest.