![\"Kensington\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DSC_0715.jpeg\")
\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Artist Christopher Jacob Hammes speaks in front of his sculpture during a news conference Monday, July 21, at Kensington\u2019s Peace Park. <\/p>\n
JACK TOMCZUK<\/p>\n
Two sides of Kensington<\/a> were on display Monday during District Attorney Larry Krasner\u2019s weekly news conference.\n<\/p>\n Prosecutors discussed an ongoing case against a man accused of trafficking drugs in the neighborhood, and community organizers celebrated the opening of a new park that spotlights the toll of gun violence.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re all aware of the heaviness of gun violence and opioids in Kensington, but what is also here is resilience and a defiant hope and community,\u201d said Shane Claiborne, founder of RAWtools Philly<\/a>, who helped bring the reimagined space to life.<\/p>\n Rifles, switches and cocaine<\/p>\n Authorities in late April raided a home on the 800 block of W. Venango Street and arrested 35-year-old Edgardo Rivera. Detectives had previously spotted Rivera involved in multiple drug transactions in Kensington, according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n Investigators, during the search, recovered nine guns \u2013 among them, two handguns equipped with \u201cswitches\u201d to increase firing speed and an AR-15 assault rifle, Assistant District Attorney Keion Cook told reporters. High-capacity ammo drums were also discovered, he added.<\/p>\n In addition, Rivera was caught with an estimated $19,000 worth of crack cocaine, cocaine and marijuana and $10,000 in cash, according to the DA\u2019s Office. A judge held all charges, including conspiracy and multiple drug and gun offenses, for trial following a preliminary hearing last week.<\/p>\n Rivera\u2019s attorney, Jeremy-Evan Alva, was perplexed that Krasner highlighted the case nearly three months after his client was arrested.\n<\/p>\n \u201cI try my cases in a courtroom, not at press conferences,\u201d Alva told Metro. \u201cMy client\u2019s innocent until proven guilty, and we are going to exercise every one of his legal rights and let the judge decide.\u201d<\/p>\n He described his client as a \u201chardworking family man\u201d; Krasner referred to Rivera as a \u201cdrug dealer.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \u2018A thing of the past\u2019<\/p>\n Deconstructed firearms obtained through buyback events have been arranged inside a sculpture at the center of Peace Park, the new space dedicated Sunday at H and Potter streets.<\/p>\n Artist Christopher Jacob Hammes based the design on a fire pit, after local teenagers participating in a blacksmithing and woodworking program asked him how to make one.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s displayed in a museological style, as though it\u2019s an archeological excavation,\u201d he explained. \u201cPart of this is a little bit of utopian thinking. I was thinking about how, maybe in the future, we\u2019ll have a society where gun violence is a thing of the past, and maybe we can look at these objects as though they\u2019re fossils.\u201d<\/p>\n Four pieces of heavy-duty glass will eventually be added, and the memorial will light up every 11 minutes, signifying how often a person dies by gunfire in the United States. Circular benches inscribed with the words \u201ca better world is possible\u201d surround the piece.<\/p>\n The project has been in the works for two years, although efforts to improve the corner lot extend back further. A mural was completed on the wall of an adjoining house a decade ago.<\/p>\n The Simple Way<\/a>, a local nonprofit co-founded by Claiborne, purchased an abandoned house at the site for $1 in 1998 and built a community center, he said. It burned down, along with several adjacent homes, when an abandoned city-owned factory caught fire in 2007<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/unnamed-25.jpg\")
This photograph from the District Attorney\u2019s Office shows contraband recovered in the April 29 search.PROVIDED \/ DA\u2019s OFFICE\n<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DSC_0758.jpeg\")
Gun parts are arranged in a new memorial at Peace Park, located at H and Potter streets in Kensington.JACK TOMCZUK<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DSC_0759.jpeg\")
Gun parts are arranged in a new memorial at Peace Park, located at H and Potter streets in Kensington.JACK TOMCZUK<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DSC_0686.jpeg\")
Shane Claiborne holds a cup of spent shell casings recovered in the neighborhood while speaking at a news conference Monday, July 21, at Kensington\u2019s Peace Park.JACK TOMCZUK<\/p>\n