NBC 6’s Steve Litz reports on the City of Miami sending guns to Ukraine to help the war-torn country in its fight against Russia
Dozens of high-powered weapons will soon be sent to a city under siege in Ukraine, and the shipment comes compliments of the City of Miami and the Police Department.
On Tuesday, police showed off a table full of weapons; Rifles, semi-automatic weapons and handguns.
Watch NBC6 free wherever you are
They'll go directly to Miami’s newest sister city, Irpin, a war-torn area just outside the capital city of Kyiv, where dozens of civilians have been killed.
“Some would say we are stepping out of our bounds as a city to take this on,” said Miami City Commissioner Ken Russell. “This is for the average folks on the ground and the municipality employees, just like ourselves.”
Get local news you need to know to start your day with NBC 6's News Headlines newsletter.
Miami Police chief Manuel Morales is helping coordinate the effort and says the 167 guns will go to the city’s local police department.
“The real need for the weapons was not the military, for fellow police officers that are putting their life on the line as they would in any other country, fighting to keep their community safe, while fighting to keep their citizens alive,” he said.
The weapons were confiscated by Miami Police or turned in at a recent gun buyback program.
Local
Russell says this shipment will be the first of its kind, weapons sent from one American city to another, half a world away, to help local authorities protect their own.
He urges more American cities to follow Miami‘s lead.
“Nearly every police department has a stock of guns they don’t know what to do with, that are slated for destruction. So hopefully this is actually a solution for departments around the country," he said.
