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All of the groups participating in the planned march will meet this week and decide when the march will occur, Stiller said.
Daryl Brooks, head of the local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Council and the Poor People’s Campaign had planned to lead about 100 protesters for a walk of over seven miles to the Dick’s Sporting Goods store in West Windsor, where the group will convene and protest the store.
Brooks’ contention is that gang members in the Trenton area buy their ammo Dick’s and he said he’s even seen it happen himself in the store.
"I was there one day and I seen guys from the street...these guys...they weren’t there for no sporting," Brooks said. "You could see they had different type of gang clothes on."
Brooks said area cops have told him they know it goes on but that they can’t do anything about it because it’s a legal transaction.
An age-limit of 18 is the only restriction to purchasing ammunition in New Jersey and valid identification must be shown.
Jeff Hennion, a spokesman for Dick’s Sporting Goods at their corporate headquarters said he couldn’t comment on the protesting group’s concerns except to say that the company is abiding by the laws of the state.
"Essentially all we can say is that we pride ourselves on following all of the regulations, including any age verification that’s required," Hennion said. "Beyond that there’s really nothing for us to comment on."
Hennion did say though that handgun ammunition sales represent a very small part of the company’s overall sales.
"It’s significantly less than one percent of our business would come from that area," he said of handgun ammunition sales.
This may be the only area of agreement between Brooks and Dick’s as the neighborhood activist said that stopping the sale of these bullets shouldn’t be too much to ask since they do represent such a small part of the company’s business.
Brooks too said he understood that it was legal for Dick’s to sell the ammo, but said they should feel a sense of responsibility to the community.
"We believe it’s morally wrong to do this and to sell this stuff," Brooks said.
He said that he and his group are not asking them to stop selling all ammo, just handgun bullets since they don’t sell the guns themselves.
"If you’re not selling handguns, why are you selling handgun ammunition?" he said.
Brooks said his group has sent letters to the local Dick’s store and their corporate headquarters but have received no response.
He said they’re resorting to protest because of the recent upswing of gang violence in Trenton and the surrounding area.
"Our idea is to try to stop the source of the ammunition where it’s coming from," he said.
Brooks said he’s trying to begin a movement for change in the city and said he’s gotten other groups to join with him in the march.
Brooks though has attempted to organize protests in the past to less than stellar results.
In 1995 he said he was organizing a protest of a Rutgers professor where 2,000 people were slated to attend. Only three people showed up. Brooks, too, is not new to controversy. He’s been widely known as one of the city’s most flamboyant activists for over a decade and is a convicted sex offender.
But he said this time things are going to be different.
He said he sat down and talked with the leaders of other groups that will be attending to organize the march including representatives from Ceasefire New Jersey, the Million Mom March and the Coalition for Peace Action.
Brooks said he’s hoping to get a wide array of participants out for the protest, and especially hopes to see high school students turn out. He said his efforts are being carried out in the spirit of Martin Luther King and other leaders from the ‘60s, and said they would continue to practice civil disobedience until their goals were met.
"We’re going for victory," he said. "This is not a one time thing. If they don’t stop then we’re going to have another march ever week, every day if we have to and protest Dick’s Sporting Goods."
