The Interrupters

A man was murdered

overnight on Chicago's South Side.

Police say it happened

execution style in the...

It was a violent night

in Chicago.

Nine people were shot in just

five hours, one person died.

The victims were all men...

so far this year, one per day...

about the number of Americans

killed during the same period

in Iraq and Afghanistan.

There are three bullet holes

in his home fired by...

Gregory Robinson is the 28th

Chicago public school student

killed this school year...

...died last Friday,

shot in the back

as he tried to shield

two young children...

Sadly, in another sign

of the times,

members of CeaseFire were also

at today's memorial service,

hoping to stop any thoughts of

retaliation for Greg's murder.

Twelve- and 13-year-olds

are walking around

with bulletproof vests

on up under their clothes.

Give us this day our

daily bread and forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those

who trespass against us,

and lead us not

into temptation...

All right, let's close up.

Everybody that's in the meeting,

this is serious now, okay?

We're in a crisis mode,

and we need people

to step up this table

and go over and beyond.

Guys are getting killed

for just anything.

Have there been any conflicts

mediated on the front end?

From last week to this week?

Two guys was arguing.

One guy threatened to blow

the other guy's wig back.

I got him to calm down,

tell him he didn't shoot you,

he was just talking.

We stopped that one

on the front end.

I have the

dirty dozen at the table.

We've always had

outreach workers,

but the violence was not

necessarily going down

at that point.

So in the year 2004,

we began a new concept called

the violence interrupters.

Most of the violence

interrupters

come from the hierarchy

in some of these gangs.

Because can't no anybody come in

and tell a guy

to put his gun down.

The violence

interrupters have one goal in mind:

To stop killings.

They're not trying

to dismantle gangs.

What they're trying to do

is save a life.

I might get shot.

Ice cold.

After what happened a week and a

half ago, nobody's been changed.

Nobody's come

through shooting.

Ameena.

What happened?

By the time we got out there,

the fight had just ended.

The cops pulled up and pulled off.

Y'all missed that sh*t.

The cops pulled up

and they left.

They're scared.

They're scared of the community.

One group of guys

said the young man threatened

that he had a gun,

and that he was gonna kill him.

So he started fighting

and ended up getting

his teeth knocked out.

He needs to go to a doctor.

So you want to go

to the emergency room?

Let's take him,

come on.

Cobe got him off location.

And I asked Cobe to take him

to the hospital.

These b*tch-ass niggas...

I'm gonna pop when I see 'em.

The block got quiet,

and I'm looking down the street,

and here comes the sisters

of the guy

that got his tooth knocked out.

They came to defend

their brother's honor.

With a butcher knife.

The sister calls one

of the guys a b*tch ass, punk ass.

The little four-

and five-year-old baby

was doing the same thing.

I'm a knock

your b*tch ass out.

Run up, then.

You going to

never knock me out!

You respecting yourself.

She ain't respecting herself.

But still.

The story about sticks

and stones may break your bones

but words can never hurt you?

Words'll get you killed.

All of the sudden, the sister

ran up with a piece of concrete.

One of the girls was about

to stab one of the guys.

Her cousin picked up

the butcher knife.

Dee, who's in

the heat of the moment,

that adrenaline was still going,

that, "I'm gonna f*** them up.

I'm gonna get them back. "

She just hit my man with a rock.

I picked up Dee.

I said you need to get off

the block for a minute.

He was out of line.

He was out of pocket.

He was very disrespectful.

And I know how many people

I got out here

that are willing

to take care of business.

We fittin' to do this

and all this and that.

His family kept calling him.

You know, what's

taking you so long

so we can come back over there

and set that block off.

'Cause if his family

would have came to get him...

maybe it would have been

a death behind it.

I know you got some

damn fools for family.

About you.

And... and they ready over here.

Because I know

you just come home.

Yeah.

You know what I'm saying?

You ain't going no problem

in going back.

I saw that you, wasn't,

you know, you was walking away,

to defend you

and your family.

But, and I really, man...

Man, I thank you.

I mean, for real.

For real, that's what gangster

is about right there.

I... I definitely

don't want to go back.

Wasn't that gangster?

Didn't them girls square

up like Joe Frazier?

Shoot.

I took him over

to his cousin's house.

We were talking about

how he got hit.

And he tumbled over.

Like a cartoon character.

Woo!

So if you get them

to laugh at themselves,

give them a moment to pause,

and think about really

how crazy and funny that it was,

find that soft spot

in that person.

Not weak, but soft spot.

And you just ride on that.

Ameena Matthews

as a violence interrupter,

she's the golden girl.

She gets in where a lot of guys

can't get in.

She knows how to talk

to these high-risk young men.

And a lot of guys that

I know that have

a lot of murder in they

background, they respect her.

So, he all right?

The life that I

lived, being in shootouts,

looking at the devil

face to face...

And I look at my sisters and my

brothers today, you know,

that was once me.

Her father was Jeff Fort,

one of the biggest gang leaders

in the history of Chicago

outside of Al Capone.

Fort is serving a life sentence

for allegedly conspiring

with Bolivians

to commit acts of terrorism

here in the United States.

I understand the fact that

we got polices in here.

There is not going to be any

killing without killing.

Jeff Fort stood

up against the police.

He was definitely a feared

and very revered man

in his community.

But she never lived

off that name.

Ameena made her own name

on the streets.

Growing up, it wasn't his

influence that influenced me

to do anything.

You know, my dad was not there.

When I was conceived,

he was 16 years old.

So when I got older, I was

in a mob with a bunch of guys,

and I was like the only female

that was the lieutenant.

That took care of the business.

It was drug selling, hustling.

You know, one crew was

on the pimping tip.

One crew was on the stickup tip.

Drugs, guns, party, fun.

That was it.

My dad wasn't around, and...

when he got wind of that

I was a part of that team,

he was kind of hurt.

But he couldn't be too hurt.

Because look at what precedent

that he started.

Ceasefire.

Ceasefire.

Ceasefire.

Stop the shooting.

Stop the killing.

I said stop it right now.

Stop it right now.

Young man got shot 22 times.

That's sad.

This is a state of emergency.

This is what

the war zone looks like.

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