Residents of dangerous neighborhoods finally have someone in the White House who’s listening.
Does the name Hadiya Pendleton ring a bell?
In 2013, Hadiya performed as a majorette with her high-school band at President Barack Obama’s second inauguration. About a week later, the 15-year-old sophomore was shot dead in the afternoon at a park on Chicago’s South Side, about a mile from where the Obamas had a home.
Hadiya and her friends, members of the school volleyball team, had scurried under a canopy after it began to rain. A short time later, a gunman jumped a fence, ran toward the group and opened fire, mistaking them for rival gang members. Hadiya was shot in the back. Two other students were wounded. “As usual, the bad guy aims, but he never hits the other bad guy,” her godfather told reporters. “He hits the one that hurts the most to lose. I changed her diapers. I played with her growing up. My heart is broken.”
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Jason L. Riley is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a columnist at The Wall Street Journal, and a Fox News commentator. Follow him on Twitter here.
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