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‘No one is born a thief’: Metro Detroit activist expresses kindness to young man who broke into home

Thief stole a watch from home

DETROIT – A community activist is speaking out after someone broke into his home.

Minister Teferi Brent is known for speaking out against violence in Detroit and has held “peace walks.”

“Young man broke into my house, attempted to take some things. He didn’t get much. He just got a watch,” Brent said.

Brent is a community leader, criminal reform activist, and minister at Fellowship Chapel. Brent said the break-in happened on Thursday (Oct. 28).

“I just want to find the young brother before he breaks into somebody’s house and gets killed,” Brent said. “I want to find him. I want to put my arms around him. I want to wrap services around him. I got an army of Black males who would be willing to help this young brother.”

Brent said that’s part of the work he’s doing throughout Metro Detroit.

“No one is born a thief. No one wakes up, or comes out of their mother’s womb saying, ‘I’m going to be a thief,’ or ‘I’m going to be a banger,’ or, ‘I’m going to be a killer.’ This young man was obviously responding to the unfortunate circumstances and situations he may have been raised in,” Brent said.

Brent said he’s not using that as an excuse for why the young man broke into his home, but he does believe in second chances.

“Someone gave me a break. Someone gave me a second chance. So I want the same for this young man. We have to do justice differently,” Brent said. “Locking folks up, it’s not going to fix this thing.”

Brent does want to thank the Detroit Police Department for responding quickly.

Read: More local news coverage


About the Authors
Kayla Clarke headshot

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.

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