Cleveland-area pastor cancels his Chicago 'gang summit'

CHICAGO (AP) — A Cleveland-area minister who told President Donald Trump that Chicago's "top gang thugs" wanted to meet with him to find ways to reduce gun violence said the decision to cancel the event had nothing to do with criticism from activists in the city.

The Rev. Darrell Scott said the meeting won't happen today at a hotel near O'Hare International Airport because three people he wanted to attend, including an education expert who became ill at an airport, had to cancel.

He said the news release about the summit overstated his goals for the meeting. He said he had no intention of trying to negotiate a cease-fire with gang members as the release stated.

"I have no idea where that came from," Scott told The Associated Press.

A new date for the summit hasn't been determined.

Scott, pastor of the New Spirit Revival Center in Cleveland Heights and a Trump supporter, told Trump at a Black History Month event at the White House that "top gang thugs" had told him they want a "sit-down" with Scott about "lowering their body count" because of Scott's support of Trump.

"That's a great idea because Chicago is totally out of control," Trump, who has criticized Chicago for its gun violence, told Scott at the event last month.

But questions quickly arose, with some Chicago activists saying Scott's gang comments suggested he doesn't understand the city's once-organized gangs have splintered into small, leaderless factions.