LEWISTON (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- A Lewiston man handed out popsicles Wednesday at Kennedy Park in hopes of spreading kindness in the wake of recent violence in the area.
On June 12, a large brawl broke out in Kennedy Park. According to family members, the fight was between white and Somali members of the Lewiston community. 38-year-old Donald Giusti died from his injuries during the fight after spending three days on life support.
Since then, police have reported two other violent assaults, but said they were not connected to the recent violence at the park, and did not know of any other incidents at the park since the June 12 melee.
"I wonder how many people won't come to the park because they're in fear or they're scared, and they shouldn't be," said Rick Bellisle, who grew up going to Kennedy Park. "I'm tired of seeing people in the community suffer from acts of violence. It was bugging me. What can I do to show people kindness?"
Bellisle handed out more than 150 popsicles in the Fourth of July heat to kids in the park, many of whom are Somali. While language barriers prevented him from having in-depth conversations with some of the Somali elders, he believes his actions truly speak louder.
"We all bleed the same. I think it's just learned behavior. If all they ever see is hate and violence -- lets show them that people can be kind to total strangers -- show them a different way of life," said Bellisle.
Lewiston's Kennedy Park is very different from Mahad Diriye's hometown in North Carolina. His family is from Somalia, and fellow immigrants walk through the park among people who have lived in Maine their entire lives -- a divide Mahad said has never been an issue for him.
"No, I never feel racially attacked or discriminated," said Diriye. "[The youth is] really lacking guidance out here. No one deserves to die. You only live once. Life is too short to be fighting and dying about petty stuff."
Other community groups have formed events to teach people about peaceful responses to violence, as well as bystander intervention.
Diriye said he is unsure if the fight in mid-June had any racial undertones or tensions, but believes that type of violence is unacceptable.
"Fighting over skin color and ethnicities -- we're way above that."