Asheville pastor says city ignored gang prevention plan for a decade

Key Points:

• Asheville pastor Dr. Ronald Gates, who had gang ties in his youth, claims city leaders ignored his decade-long push since 2016 for a youth gang-prevention program aimed at early intervention before recent retaliatory violence escalated.
• Gates' proposal centers on implementing Gang Free, a Los Angeles-based program for grades 4-6 that educates children on gang recruitment tactics and offers mentorship, educational support, and legal economic opportunities as alternatives to gang involvement.
• Despite rising violent crime in Asheville, city officials have avoided labeling recent shootings as gang-related, describing them instead as retaliations between friend groups, a distinction Gates argues obscures the broader gang activity problem.
• Gates emphasizes that prevention requires more than education, advocating for community involvement including law enforcement, mentors, and local businesses to provide youth with positive role models and financial alternatives to gang life.
• Drawing from his own experience escaping gang involvement through family support and sports, Gates warns that without early intervention, young people risk being drawn deeper into cycles of violence and urges the city to act before more lives are lost.