This tragedy in East Colfax should be a wake-up call, just like the last one.

No matter how hard you work, how kind and generous you are, or how you strive to help your community, a stray bullet can rip it all away.

Ma Kaing did everything right. She still died in her son’s arms, a victim of gun violence, outside their home in Hidden Brook Apartments.

The Denver Post’s Noelle Phillips reported: “She was a great mother, who also found time to make sure neighbors had enough food and clothes, family and friends said. She grew vegetables in the community garden — a plot now filled with flowers, candles, and a pair of black rubber sandals in her honor.”

With this backdrop, Denver City Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer attended a community meeting in East Colfax to mourn Kaing and talk about ways to stem gun violence. Anger and frustration were directed at the City of Denver for slow responses to 911 calls for help and a general feeling that the city’s leaders have ignored the rising crime.

Sawyer did not listen. She lectured.

“I wish that your mom was still here,” a visibly emotional Sawyer said, apologizing to Kaing’s son. “But I want you to know that every single person up here … is working our asses off to fix some of these challenges, but there are things we can’t do alone. Every year we have a cleanup in New Freedom Park. We invite residents to come and help us. Not one East Colfax resident has ever shown up.”

Perhaps she missed the part of Kaing’s tragic death where the reason she was on the street after 11 p.m. was because she was returning home from a late night at work trying to fill a catering order at her new restaurant. Or the part where Kaing was deeply dedicated to helping her community, like many others.

Does Sawyer expect community members trapped in poverty to use a sick day – few hourly workers are afforded vacation days in today’s economy – to join in a park cleanup?

Kaing, and many others in the community, direct their efforts to programs that will actually help the community rather than volunteering to do Denver Parks and Recreation’s job.

Kaing was on the board of directors for East Colfax Neighborhood Association and she volunteered at a food bank. She also worked at community events with Zuwa Goro before he was also gunned down in the neighborhood. Goro was an employee at the Street Fraternity and spent his days mentoring young men who otherwise might be tempted to join gangs. Kaing and Goro were killed despite their hard work in the community.

So offensive were Sawyer’s comments — directed at a room of residents involved enough to show up for the event — that those organizing the meeting attempted to stop her speech.

It’s hard to imagine if Sawyer had been attending a meeting in Park Hill, Crestmoor or Hilltop about slow police response times and rising crime, she would have deigned to lecture the community about their lack of volunteer time with at-risk children in nearby schools.

Denver needs help. I’ve been calling for amped-up attention and response to gang violence and shootings since 2018. The solutions are not easy, but they also certainly aren’t tied to getting our poorest residents to spend their limited free time cleaning up parks.

Sawyer should double down on meaningful investments in East Colfax instead of trying to find a scapegoat for the city’s problems.

Her response on Twitter to criticism of her speech, however, shows that self-reflection isn’t Sawyer’s strong suit. Sen. Julie Gonzales, who also attended the meeting, remarked on Twitter that Sawyer’s finger-wagging was not a good look.

Sawyer responded: “You know what else is a bad look? Failing to acknowledge that this community has advocated — loudly — for less cops. Not acknowledging that our first responders were there in 5 minutes. Or you failing to acknowledge that some of your own policies have led to these safety issues.”

The immigrant and refugee community living in East Colfax did not “loudly” advocate to defund the police. Nor do I recall the City and County of Denver cutting its police or sheriff’s department budget.

What I do remember is community members talking in the wake of George Floyd’s death about their fear of being killed by poorly trained and incompetent police like the Aurora officers who put Elijah McClain in a chokehold a mere four miles east of Hidden Brook, as he walked home with iced tea in a paper bag.

But I guess Sawyer wasn’t really listening then either.

Megan Schrader is the editor of The Denver Post opinion pages.

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