Democrats’ So-Called ‘Community Peacekeepers’ Keep Getting Arrested for Violent Crimes [WATCH]

Several prominent “violence prevention” advocates who promoted alternative approaches to crime reduction in major liberal cities have been charged with serious violent crimes in 2025, according to court documents and media reports.

At least five individuals involved in community outreach or anti-violence initiatives in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Flint, Michigan, Chicago, and Rochester, New York, are now facing criminal charges ranging from assault to murder.

Each had prior encounters with law enforcement before their latest arrests.

In Chicago, Kellen McMiller was arrested in September after a deadly burglary incident just days after appearing with Democratic Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker at a Peacekeepers event celebrating anti-violence work, CWB Chicago reported.

Authorities allege that McMiller, who was wanted in four states, robbed a Louis Vuitton store on September 11 and crashed a car while fleeing, killing another driver.

McMiller and six alleged accomplices have been charged with murder and theft.

His court date was delayed while he remained hospitalized, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.

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Governor Pritzker had previously praised McMiller and others in the Peacekeepers program for “doing the hard work of community violence prevention,” and contrasted their efforts with President Donald Trump’s earlier plan to deploy the National Guard to Chicago.

Pritzker’s administration had promoted community-based programs as alternatives to “overincarceration.”

In Englewood today to meet with Peacekeepers who are working to create safer communities.

It’s folks like these that we need more of doing the hard work of community violence prevention, not troops on the ground to undermine efforts fighting crime. pic.twitter.com/WgmSVZWiq7

— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) September 5, 2025

Metropolitan Peace Initiatives (MPI), one of the organizations running the Peacekeepers, announced it would review its screening process after McMiller’s arrest.

“I think it’s just an opportunity for us to get better at what we do and continue to strengthen our protocols and standards,” MPI Executive Director Vaughn Bryant told WBEZ Chicago.

In Washington, D.C., Cotey Wynn, once featured on the city attorney general’s website as a success story in the “Cure the Streets” program, now faces charges for allegedly helping plan a murder at a local smoking lounge.

Court documents indicate Wynn was seen on surveillance video signaling a gunman after the shooting of a 31-year-old man in September 2023.

Three others were injured in the attack.

Wynn, who previously served ten years in prison, is being held without bail.

“He’s smoking that hookah. He’s not trying to kill anyone,” Wynn’s attorney Brian McDaniel said in court, according to D.C. Witness.

“He’s just smoking that hookah, and drinking, and occasionally talking to a young lady.”

Wynn had been charged with another murder in 2020, but the case was dismissed due to insufficient evidence.

Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb defended hiring ex-offenders in anti-violence programs during 2023 testimony, arguing that “keeping them locked up… will not make us safer or stronger.”

In Philadelphia, self-described “hood abolitionist” Sergio Hyland was charged in April with killing his girlfriend, whose body was found under an overpass.

Hyland had served prison time for a prior murder conviction before becoming a vocal prison abolition activist and consultant on “violence reduction” strategies.

An archived version of his website advertised services including “Violence Reduction/Prevention” and “Harm/De-escalation Tactics.”

Prosecutors presented phone records, witness statements, and surveillance footage linking him to the crime.

His attorney, Shaka Johnson, argued that there was “no solid evidence” against him, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Hyland previously endorsed Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s reelection campaign before his arrest.

This is Sergio Hyland.

He was a “criminal justice” advocate for the leftist Working Families Party in Philly, pushing to end “mass incarceration” and endorsing @DA_LarryKrasner for reelection.

… That is, before he was charged this month with gunning down a mother of two. pic.twitter.com/TXCYvS3Lfn

— Hudson Crozier (@Hudson_Crozier) May 1, 2025

In Rochester, New York, Anthony Hall, the former head of the Pathways to Peace initiative, was sentenced to two years in prison in April for assaulting a police officer and defrauding a nonprofit.

Authorities said Hall shoved an officer during a domestic dispute in January, causing a fracture.

Hall had also led the Community Resource Collaborative, which received public funding to reduce recidivism.

A state investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James found that Hall used $20,000 in nonprofit funds for personal expenses.

A court ordered the organization to dissolve following Hall’s arrest.

In Flint, Michigan, Councilman Leon El-Alamin, founder of the nonprofit MADE Institute, was charged in July with domestic violence and assaulting an ex-girlfriend.

El-Alamin, who previously served seven years in prison for drug and firearm offenses, had his record cleared under Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s “Clean Slate” initiative in 2020.

“These recent allegations are both false and deeply disheartening, but I remain confident in the truth and in the legal process,” El-Alamin said after his arrest.

Before the charges, El-Alamin had criticized “Mass Incarceration” in social media posts and promoted his organization’s focus on workforce training and “violence prevention.”

Democrats just had their poster boy arrested for beating and choking a woman and dragging her by the hair, court records show.

Leon El-Alamin was arrested for domestic violence.

An unregistered gun was also found inside the house.

He’s a former drug dealer who claimed to have… pic.twitter.com/zYVZt8c3zU

— Breanna Morello (@BreannaMorello) July 28, 2025

Each of the accused had publicly aligned themselves with criminal justice reform movements that advocate rehabilitation over incarceration.

Their recent arrests have drawn renewed scrutiny of taxpayer-funded “violence prevention” programs operating in high-crime areas.

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