Mystics guard Natasha Cloud wants something done about gun violence in D.C and vowed to her 24,000 Instagram followers that she would use her stature to make D.C. do better.
"We have the rematch at the 2018 WBNA finals tomorrow, and I will be sure to use all of my media privileges as a black out. And I will only discuss this topic until it is fixed," she said.
The WNBA star called out Mayor Muriel Bowser and Ward 8 Council Member Trayon White on Thursday after visiting Hendley Elementary School in D.C., which was put on lock down Wednesday after a nearby shooting.
It wasn't the first dangerous shooting to affect the school: According to Ward 8 School Board Member Markus Batchelor, at the end of May, students were present at a school movie night when a bullet shattered a window.
"Our kids can’t even feel safe to go to school right now. What are we doing? We gotta do better for our youth. We gotta do better for our community," Cloud said.
She said the school canceled their field day in light of the violence. Then, she demanded a quick response from Bowser and White.
"Someone better get back to me, so we can figure this out together," she said.
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Cloud says she will only discuss the topic of gun violence until she's granted meetings. Her next big publicity moment comes on Friday night, when the Mystics play the Seattle Storm.
Latoya Foster, a spokesperson for the mayor, said in a statement that Bowser shares Cloud's concerns and will reach out to her soon.
Before calling out the gun violence in a series of videos over a few hours Thursday, Cloud posted a video from the Hendley Elementary Library of students singing Lil Nas X's hit "Old Town Road."
Wards east of the Anacostia river have been hardest hit by a rising number of shooting homicides in the District: Over the past two years, Ward 7 saw 57 gun-related homicides and Ward 8 saw 94.
Those wards also have the highest rates of all violent crimes involving a gun, D.C. police data shows.
