Man walks from Philadelphia to D.C. to protest gun violence

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Even a child can see what's happening in Philadelphia is wrong.

"It's not right to pick up guns," said 9-year-old Chase Faulk as he stood holding a sign protesting gun violence. "One of my friends got killed."

Stories like that one are why gun violence seeps into the lesson plans at Rowena Faulk's day care centers.

"I always talk to them because I try to catch them before they pick up the gun," said the owner of Faulk's Childcare Services LLC.

On Wednesday afternoon, she brought some of the kids from her day care out to meet a man who can put that anti-violence lesson into action.

Jamal Johnson is a retired Marine who has taken on the battle to save Philadelphia's streets.

"I wanted to do something that was different than what everyone else was doing but also something that would get the attention of the people we're trying to reach," said Johnson, who started the Stop Killing Us march in 2017.

The march takes him nearly 150 miles from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.

"The first march started because I was addressing the police brutality," he said. "As the gun violence continued to escalate in the city, I made that one of my main focuses also."

On Wednesday morning, he loaded up his backpack for the sixth time and headed out on his journey. It began just hours after yet another shooting Tuesday night that left nearly a hundred shell casings on the streets of West Philadelphia. One of Faulk's day care kids was there.

"She's a basket case," Faulk said of the frightened little girl. "She was running in between the shots."

"Right now, it's like the wild, wild west and they're taking over," said Johnson. "And we've got to come back."

Johnson's journey will take him 21 days: walking all day and staying in hotels overnight. His ultimate goal, as it is every year, is to meet with members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

"Every year I reach out to them, and unfortunately they never reach back," he said.

Still, he's motivated to keep moving after seeing some progress over the last six years.

"More and more people are starting to step out and step up and ask the elected officials to do more than what they're doing already," he said.

Many of the kids from the day care walked by Johnson's side from Hunting Park to City Hall. Some of them refused to abandon the march.

"This is the most wonderfulest day of my life," said one little girl as she walked.

Spurred on by their dedication, Johnson kept walking with the goal of making it to Washington D.C. by September 6. He hopes to create a safer city for everyone, one step at a time.

"I know it makes a difference," he said.