As killings persist, New Orleans parade says ‘Stop Violence’

NEW ORLEANS — It bore trademarks of a classic New Orleans parade — the blare of brass, the dipping and kicking of dance, the strutting of bodies moving in unison through the streets.

Here they were, having buried friends and children and brothers, desperate to see the killing stop.

New Orleans’ murder rate was more than eight times the U.S. average in 2014, according to the most recent national figures.

Violent crime, often involving guns, has persisted even as officials have tried all types of programs to lower the rate.

The blocks around the 1.5-mile parade route have seen assaults and rapes and homicides.

Lyons, president of the Perfect Gentlemen Social Aid and Pleasure Club, saw his event as a show of solidarity.

Lyons got his start in crime around the age of 14, as a lookout for neighborhood drug dealers, shouting “Fire in the hole!” if he spotted a police car.