Gun violence also terrorism, Nutter tells U.S. attorney general

Philadelphia’s mayor says gun violence in America’s cities should be treated just like international terrorism.

Mayor Michael Nutter said that was the message he delivered Monday to Attorney General Loretta Lynch during a meeting in Washington.

There is “really no level of distinction” between the daily violence on America’s streets and what he described as the “episodic acts of international terrorism that take place primarily in cities,” Nutter said.

Mayors from Washington, Baltimore, New Orleans and Gary, Indiana, also attended the meeting, which was scheduled before the attacks in Paris.

Nutter said gun violence, like terrorism, makes people feel unsafe in their communities.

Philadelphia has had more than 240 homicides this year. Baltimore hit the 300-mark for the first time since 1999.