In early September, Kellen McMiller took part in a roundtable discussion with Governor J.B. Pritzker at an event for anti-violence workers on the South Side.
McMiller, 35, even posed for a photo with the Governor in his neon yellow peacekeeper vest. The photo would later appear in a press release touting how violence prevention programs are helping drive down violent crime in Chicago.
Just six days later, McMiller was allegedly involved in a smash-and-grab downtown that killed a man on his way to work.
The incident has cast a harsh spotlight on the field of violence intervention at a time when President Donald Trump is deploying National Guard units to Illinois while criticizing local leaders’ handling of crime. Critics have questioned why McMiller, who had four warrants out for his arrest at the time of the robbery, was recruited as a peacekeeper in the first place.
State Sen. Darby Hills, R-Barrington Hills, appeared on Fox News and accused the peacekeeper program of “protecting criminals.” But proponents of violence intervention say it’s more complicated than that.
Vaughn Bryant, the executive director of Metropolitan Peace Initiatives, points to data showing significant declines in shooting injuries and deaths in communities where peacekeepers work.
But Bryant also concedes that violence prevention groups shouldn’t recruit people with outstanding warrants, and he said he’s committed to reevaluating the vetting process for peacekeepers.
“I think it’s just an opportunity for us to get better at what we do and continue to strengthen our protocols and standards,” he said.
A deadly smash-and-grab on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile
McMiller was one of a dozen offenders who authorities say robbed a Louis Vuitton store of nearly $700,000 worth of goods on Sept. 11.
The crew fled the scene in getaway cars, and according to prosecutors, the one McMiller was in raced down Michigan Avenue, running red lights, until it slammed into an SUV driven by 40-year-old Skokie resident Mark Arceta, who didn’t survive the crash.
Arceta’s wife was expecting, and he died without ever meeting his newborn son.
McMiller and six other men are now facing charges of first-degree murder, burglary, and retail theft in connection with the robbery.
In a statement a Pritzker spokesperson said “we were extremely troubled to learn that this individual was arrested for his alleged involvement in this serious crime, and we expect them to be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Pritzker also took down the photo of him and McMiller, but defended the role that felons play in violence prevention.
“When you say that you shouldn’t have somebody who is involved in crime before involved in community violence intervention, that’s just not how it works,” Pritzker later told reporters. “We want people who’ve fallen into that lifestyle to work now to deter people from entering a life of crime.
‘Part of him wanted to turn his life around’
We weren’t able to reach McMiller or his public defender.
What we do know about him comes from Bryant, of Metropolitan Peace Initiatives, which oversees many of the violence prevention groups in the city. That includes Public Equity, the group that recruited McMiller roughly 3 weeks before the robbery.
“There was a part of him that wanted to turn his life around,” Bryant said. “Otherwise, I don’t know that he would have been engaged with us.”
But Bryant said McMiller was never hired as a full-time employee or trained to do professional outreach work. Instead, he was an apprentice in their peacekeeper program.
It identifies high-risk people who are considering leaving street life, but haven’t fully abandoned it. Participants are incentivized to mediate conflicts on their block with a small stipend. In McMiller’s case, he received $100 a week.
Bryant said the proximity of peacekeepers to other high-risk individuals makes them some of their most effective conflict mediators.
“When we are recruiting peacekeepers, we want to have inroads, meaning people who can influence groups to stand down,” Bryant said.
‘It’s never too late’
Although Bryant says relapses like McMiller’s are rare, they do happen.
Rodney Phillips is a former high-ranking Black Disciples gang member in Chicago who is familiar with the temptations that can lead the likes of McMiller back to a life of crime.
“Hot Rod” grew up near 35th and State streets in the now-demolished Stateway Gardens public housing complex.
On a tour of his old stomping grounds, he recalled where he used to play ball with his friends after school. He also recalled where he first started drug dealing. He got caught, and ended up in jail.
After his release, he was recruited to a violence prevention group, which was a new idea at the time. He was even featured in the 2011 Emmy-winning documentary “The Interrupters,” which highlighted the work of his team.
But violence prevention work wasn’t well-funded at the time. And despite how hard he tried to leave his past behind, he struggled to make ends meet.
“I had a daughter that was staying with me that I was raising,” Phillips said, “I had bills. My back was against the wall.”
He says going back to dealing was easy, since he had never had a real job and didn’t know how to get one. That’s how he wound up behind bars again.
“I cried in that cell because I felt like a failure and a disappointment,” he said. “I let down people, but mainly myself, because I knew I was more than that.”
Phillips resolved to continue his work in violence intervention once he got out. Now, he runs the crisis prevention response unit at Metropolitan Peace Initiatives. His team mediates conflicts at teen gatherings downtown, some of which have turned violent.
His work has earned him a new nickname: “the Chief of Peace.”
He says his story shows that “It’s never too late. Whatever your circumstances are, you could become a model and a beacon of hope for other people.”
Rodney Phillips at his old stomping grounds near the now-demolished Stateway Gardens public housing complex. After he left prison for a second time, he resolved to continue his anti-violence work and now runs the Crisis Prevention & Response Unit for Metropolitan Peace Initiatives.
Manuel Martinez/Manuel Martinez/WBEZ
‘An individual choice he made’
Phillips was held accountable for his actions, and believes McMiller should face the consequences of his own. But he doesn’t see the robbery as a reason to abandon the city’s violence prevention model.
“We have to look at it as an individual choice he made and not scrutinize a whole profession,” Phillips said.
But in the meantime, the deadly incident that McMiller was involved in has ruptured the lives of those who were close to Mark Arceta, the man killed in the crash.
Bryant says he has a friend who knew someone who worked with Arceta. They recently sent a text message that has stuck with him.
“Mark, the man who was killed during the Louis Vuitton smash and grab, was a hard-working family man who would help anyone,” the text said. “The work you are doing is for the greater good, and he would absolutely support that.”
Bryant said the message was consoling. But it also hurt, he said, to know that a supporter of their work fell victim to someone who was in their program.
Anna Savchenko is a reporter for WBEZ. You can reach her at asavchenko@wbez.org.