On Wednesday, February 18, my younger brother Christian would have turned 22 years old.
It’s hard to believe that in a few months it will be four years since he was tragically murdered on the South Side of Chicago. Christian had just graduated from high school. He had his whole life ahead of him. He dreamed of going to UCLA. We even did a college tour together.
Instead, on June 24, 2022, my brother was murdered while standing with friends on a city street.
A black SUV pulled up. Several unknown men opened fire. Fifty shell casings were later recovered at the scene. Three people were rushed to hospital. Only two survived.
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Police described it as ‘wrong place, wrong time’. In places like Chicago, the wrong place and the wrong time could be a person lying in bed and a bullet flying through their window.
That sentence has haunted me ever since. Because four years later, not much has changed.
Nationally, crime has shown signs of declining over the past year, thanks to President Donald Trump. But in places like Chicago and other liberal cities, violent crime is systemic and stubbornly persistent. Last month alone, 123 people were shot in Chicago.
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Violent crime is not a partisan topic of conversation. It is an epidemic that is sweeping our country.
And justice has still not come to my family.
I have been blessed with a career that gives me a platform and access – to policymakers, to the media, to the national conversation. With that blessing comes responsibility. I refuse to forget Christian’s face or dismiss his story as an anomaly.
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That’s why I wrote my book: ‘The Day My Brother Was Killed: My Journey Through America’s Violent Crime Crisis.” While it tells my family’s story, it also honors the lives of eight other innocent individuals who were murdered on the same day as Christian – across the country, in unrelated, random acts of violence.
They were different races. Different backgrounds. Different ages and living conditions.
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Their only commonality was that they were innocent. And they were murdered.
This is not a race issue. This is not a targeted problem. This is an American issue that affects everyone in this country.
That reality is also why I founded the Caldwell Institute for Public Safety in June 2024, two years after my family lost Christian, along with its sister organization, the Caldwell Foundation for Public Safety. Our mission is simple but urgent: to tackle violent crime fairly and at its roots, while ensuring victims and their families are prioritized.
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An important driver of this crisis is policy.
In our cities, well-intentioned but deeply flawed policies have shifted the balance of justice, placing more rights in the hands of criminals than victims. Soft-on-crime policies, weak enforcement and a lack of accountability have encouraged repeat offenders while leaving law-abiding citizens vulnerable.
America must confront its violent crime crisis now, before more birthdays go uncelebrated, more futures are stolen, and more families wonder why.
On Tuesday, February 24, the Caldwell Institute for Public Safety and the Caldwell Foundation for Public Safety will host their second annual gala at Mar-a-Lago, “Securing America’s Future: The Roadmap to 2026 and Beyond.” The event will bring together national leaders, distinguished guests and concerned citizens with one common goal: confronting America’s violent crime crisis head-on and honoring the victims whose lives were taken far too soon.
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This evening is for people like my brother Christian and all the victims of senseless violent crimes whose names rarely make headlines but whose loss changes families and communities forever. We will honor them and ensure that their names are never forgotten.
We have a huge year ahead of us – not just for this election cycle, but for generations to come. Public safety is shaped locally. Prosecutors, judges, city councils and lawmakers determine time and time again whether violent offenders are held accountable or released back onto the streets.
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Americans need to get involved. They need to understand the real consequences of a soft-on-crime policy that gives career criminals one opportunity after another – until one day someone else’s loved one pays the ultimate price.
Policy matters. Enforcement is important. Accountability is important. When the rules are relaxed and the consequences disappear, violent offenders are released again and again and tragedy ensues. We’ve seen this on camera all over the country.
Honoring victims means more than commemoration. It means action. It means demanding leadership that puts public safety first.
Christian would have been 22 years old today. I can’t bring my brother back, but I can fight to ensure that fewer families endure the pain I live with every day.
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America must confront its violent crime crisis now, before more birthdays go uncelebrated, more futures are stolen, and more families wonder why.
We owe it to Christian – and to every victim of violent crime – to do better.
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