Two days after 34-year-old Antoine “Fizzy” Lester was shot during a practice session at Mellon Park for his East End Raiders youth football team, the Community Empowerment Association hosted an emergency meeting to reassure friends, family and especially the children that they would be safe, and the season would continue.
No one expected the person best suited to doing that—Lester, himself—would attend, but he did to the cheers of all present.
“God is good,” said CEA President and CEO Rashad Byrdsong at the meeting, Sept. 30. “This guy was shot multiple times two days ago and he’s here. Brother ‘Fizzy’ is in the house.”
Aside from the foam “sleeve” covering the bandages on his arm, Lester, who was shot in the chest and arm allegedly by Anthony Lamont Hines after an argument around 7 p.m., Sept. 28, while 8- to 10-year-olds from several youth football teams looked on, seemed fine. He later joked that the medication might have something to do with that.
“I really don’t know what to say. Thank you for all the prayers and support,” Lester told the audience. “Some media are trying to go crazy like this some street stuff I’m behind or got hurt behind—Protect these kids that’s really what this is all about. I’m serious about these kids. So, I’m here. I’m still a little medicated so I don’t have to worry about too much, you know. But I thank you for real. I appreciate everyone for being here. We gotta work together to keep this thing going. And that’s why I forgive him for the stuff that just happened.”
Someone else who one may have thought would not have been at the meeting was the Hines’ brother. He gave Lester a hug and a handshake and told the audience that the two have been friendly acquaintances for years. The shooter’s brother then said that Lester “forgives my brother.”
The New Pittsburgh Courier was unable to confirm the name of Hines’ brother at press deadline.
Byrdsong told the Courier exclusively that the presence of Hines’ brother at the meeting showed that “this ain’t no gang piece, this ain’t no street piece, he also was concerned about what happened at the field.”
Hines was arrested late Sept. 30 in Monroeville and charged with attempted homicide, among other charges.
It was important for Byrdsong, Lester and others to dispel rumors of the shooting resulting from some type of gang situation. “This was a random act from an individual who had severe mental issues who came to the field about not wanting his nephew to play with this team and it’s as simple as that,” Byrdsong told the Courier.
Pittsburgh Westinghouse Principal Bernard Taylor noted at the meeting that extra counseling and mental health professionals would be on staff the following day, Oct. 1, at the high school, middle school and Faison Elementary school.
State Rep. Ed Gainey, D-Larimer, told the audience he would work with them to get both the Allegheny County Department of Human Services and the Port Authority to attend the league games because people who need their services are at the games.
Byrdsong and several of the league coaches are also working on forming a committee to see that league kids and their families can access a range of services, from food to clothing to mental health.
“There are some basic fundamental issues in our community that we have to address,” said Byrdsong. “They are systemic-type issues. There’s a lot of families that are suffering, with concentrated poverty, the quality of education…all these things are social issues that impact the whole family. You can’t talk about working with children without addressing (those issues). We’re trying to bring leadership from all these athletic associations together to sit down and hammer out some preventions and interventions to keep our children safe.”
The East End Raiders announced that their season would continue with its homecoming game this Saturday, Oct. 6, at 9 a.m. at Pittsburgh Obama.
On its official Facebook page, the team stated The East End Raiders announced that their season would continue with its homecoming game this Saturday, Oct. 6. On its official Facebook page, the team said that “it is unfortunate that our practice was the venue for this assault. More importantly that our dedicated coach, due to no fault of his own, was the target. Our staff and coaches made sure all kids were safe, and accounted for…we strive to provide a safe and nurturing environment for the children and families we serve. We are heartbroken for what they have witnessed. But we will heal together.”
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Youth football coach forgives the man who shot him—Raiders to play, Oct. 6
