Raleigh activist speaks on 'disturbing' teen takeover chaos
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Community activist Dr. Kimberly Muktarian rushed down to Glenwood South early Sunday morning and said the area looked out of control. Some teenagers called her about the chaos.
"They were frantic. They said that the cops were arresting people, that there were gunshots fired," said Muktarian. "(There were) unsupervised young people, no direction."
Muktarian, the founder of Save Our Sons, described what she saw as "disturbing."
"People who did not have anything to do with it were randomly just slammed on the ground," she said.
Her own niece was taken into custody.
"We went and picked her up and actually, they discharged it because they really didn't have anything," said Muktarian.
She said there are root causes in what happened along the entertainment corridor, as well as in Brier Creek.
Mukartian says certain communities do not get the support they need.
"We just can't wake up and say 'Well, this this happened on this particular day.' This is not an incident. This is something that has been around in our culture for quite some time that the City of Raleigh has ignored," said Muktarian.
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Another community activist, Kerwin Pittman, plans on addressing what happened with the young adults he works with.
There are summer programs coming up that address social and emotional learning, as well as career pathways.
"As a youth that was incarcerated myself, I know that when you do not have proper mentorship, when you do not have proper guidance, and it is not a great investment in the youth, that it is easy for you to steer in a direction that it could be destructive in nature," said Pittman.
Six people were injured along Glenwood South this weekend and two others were hurt in Brier Creek.
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