City officials withdrew a request for Minneapolis City Council action on a violence interrupter contract amid concerns surrounding a local nonprofit and its founder.

At issue was a proposed $643,000 contract for Salem Inc., a nonprofit associated with the Rev. Jerry McAfee’s church, New Salem Missionary Baptist Church. McAfee also runs the public safety outreach nonprofit 21 Days of Peace.

In February, McAfee was accused of making threats and homophobic insults against City Council members after a committee forwarded a proposal to transfer more than $1 million in funding for violence interruption work from the city to Hennepin County.

Last week, two 21 Days of Peace members returned fire after hearing gunshots near a community barbecue at the intersection of 36th and Penn avenues in north Minneapolis. Those violence interrupters, Kashmir Khaliffa McReynolds and Alvin Anthony Watkins Jr., are now charged with gun violations.

In an email to constituents, Council Member Robin Wonsley sharply criticized the prospect of McAfee’s nonprofit getting city funds for violence interrupter work.

“Reverend McAfee is not in a position to do violence prevention work in the city of Minneapolis,” she wrote. “When the city approves contracts related to public safety services, we are affirmatively telling the public that these organizations and individuals are safe to put their trust in.”

The Minneapolis Department of Neighborhood Safety on Monday withdrew its request for council consideration on violence interruption contracts through the program MinneapolUS, city spokesperson Brian Feintech said.

A new request for contracts that excludes Salem Inc. will be submitted to the City Council Committee of the Whole in advance of its March 25 meeting, Feintech said.

21 Days of Peace members charged

Criminal charges were filed on Monday against two 21 Days of Peace violence interrupters who returned fire during a shootout on March 10.

Court documents show McReynolds, 35, and Watkins, 50, are each face one count of reckless discharge of a firearm. Watkins is also charged with illegally possessing a firearm, while McReynolds is charged with conspiring to provide a firearm to someone who is convicted of a crime of violence.

According to a criminal complaint, McReynolds and Watkins were at a gathering behind a building at the corner of 36th and Penn around 9:36 p.m. when a volley of automatic gunfire was detected on ShotSpotter.

Surveillance video shows McReynolds and others running toward the source of gunfire. A bullet grazed McReynolds in the neck, and he is then seen lying on the ground, firing several rounds. He is also heard telling Watkins to “Grab my chop” — referring to a firearm — and telling him to load it.

ShotSpotter activations allegedly detected 30 rounds of automatic gunfire from a 9 mm firearm, followed by McReynolds firing a total of 27 shots from a 5.7×28 mm gun and Watkins firing another eight rounds from the other gun McReynolds told him to retrieve from his car.

Watkins has past felony convictions and is prohibited from possessing a gun, court records show.

In a Mirandized statement, McReynolds admitted that he never saw the other gunman while shooting and “was just shooting in the general direction he believed they may have been located,” a criminal complaint states.

McReynolds told police he has a concealed carry permit, a private detective card and has private training. He said he knew from his training that he should have stopped firing at the other gunman when they stopped firing or when they had turned around, “but his adrenaline was going,” the complaint states.

McReynolds was arrested on Friday, and he remains in custody on $100,000 bail. His next court appearance is set for Tuesday afternoon.

Watkins was charged via warrant and is not currently in custody.