Cleveland pastor cancels 'gang summit' aimed at reducing violence in Chicago

Pastor Darrell Scott speaks at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. July 20, 2016. | Reuters/Jim Young

A Cleveland pastor has canceled a meeting with "street leaders" that intended to find ways to reduce gun violence in Chicago.

On Monday, Rev. Darrell Scott, CEO of the National Diversity Coalition for Trump, announced the postponement of what has been dubbed as a "gang summit." He said that the meeting that was supposed to take place at the O'Hare Marriott on Tuesday afternoon had to be canceled because some of the people he invited could not attend, Chicago Tribune reported. The Coalition later announced that the summit was being rescheduled.

A news release for the summit indicated that Scott would be working with employment, housing and education experts in an attempt to negotiate "an immediate ceasefire" in Chicago. However, Scott said that the news release overstated his goals for the summit, and he added that he does not intend to negotiate a cease-fire with gang members.

"I don't know where that came from. I think they went a little bit overboard. What is this, Israel and Palestine?" said Scott.

The announcement for the summit came after Scott told President Donald Trump at a Black History Month event at the White House that "top gang thugs" in Chicago wanted to meet with him about "lowering their body count" because of his support for the president.

"That's a great idea because Chicago is totally out of control," Trump responded. The president had been critical of the gun violence in the city, and he had stirred much speculation when he tweeted that he will "send in the Feds" if city officials cannot address the problem.

Scott said that he was contacted by Torrence Cooks, a Chicago anti-violence activist and a former gang member who reached out to the pastor about his idea for a Washington D.C. field trip for 90 black youths. In an interview on Monday, Scott noted that Cooks had planned to meet with 15 to 20 people from different parts of the city.

The planned summit drew skepticism from other Chicago activists who said that Scott's gang comments suggested that he does not understand that the once-organized gangs had splintered into small, leaderless factions.

"Someone from outside Chicago shouldn't be giving people around here false hopes," said Corey Brooks, a pastor at Chicago's New Beginnings Church.

Scott said that several developers who have jobs to offer were invited to the summit. He also claimed that a representative from Illinois, Gov. Bruce Rauner, would attend, but the governor's office did not respond to questions about the meeting.

The pastor went on to say that he would wait to see how the meeting goes before deciding whether to ask the president about providing federal aid for the city.

"I don't know. We'll see what happens at this meeting," said Scott. "If I see there's something there worth communicating to the White House, I will," he added.