Cleveland anti-gun violence campaign plastered on billboards

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Starting this month, anti-gun violence billboards will be going up in Cleveland’s Lee-Harvard neighborhood.

The message will read: “Put the guns down”.

The initiative was sparked by the murder of a 9-year-old girl in Cleveland in June 2018.

Saniyah Nicholson was shot in the head while sitting in her mother’s car on Lee Road.

According to police, the little girl was caught in the crossfire between two groups who were shooting at each other on the sidewalk.

The Black Women Commission of Cuyahoga County and the Women Commission for Education and Training is the driving force behind the billboard campaign.

“I’m hoping this billboard will be a constant reminder of making better choices,” said Moneka Lewis, with the Black Women Commission of Cuyahoga County.

Besides the billboards, community activists have also placed a street sign with Nicholson’s picture on it in the neighborhood where she was killed. 19 News is told the commission plans to put up additional street signs and billboards throughout the city.

As people walk by the street sign Lewis said she hopes it will be another another reminder for them to think twice before they pick up a gun.

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