AND YOU SAY WE ARE FREE..BLACK MAN MURDERED BY POLICE
by TFSnewsRoom
Subject: Kenny Walker Tragedy (read story first, then open picture).
No matter what anyone says we have NOT OVERCOME.....
This is a horrible tragedy that needs to be made public - everywhere.
> > > Last Wednesday evening a local sheriff's special unit targeted 4
> > > black men riding in an expensive SUV as possible "drug suspects".
The reality of the matter is that every individual in that SUV was a college
graduate, as well as responsible citizen. These four innocent men were
dragged from their vehicle at gun point, and forced to lay on the side of a
major Interstate like animals.
Simultaneously one of the "John Wayne" sheriffs made a conscious decision to
shoot Kenny Walker in the front of the head twice,
with a H&K MP5 assault rifle. The coward who shot Kenny claimed
that he made a "judgment call" because he couldn't see Kenny's right hand.
While Kenny lie dying on the side of the road, the bastards knowing
full well at this point that they had targeted the wrong vehicle, still
resented the other 3 gentlemen. They place them in 3 separate
cars and held them in 3 separate cells. Furthermore, Kenny was shot at
9:00pm and his family was not notified until 1:30 am. They didn't even get
a chance to say their farewells, because he died before they arrived. Of
course they found no guns or contraband in the vehicle. 6 hours later they
released the other men. They gave the driver his keys and said, and I
quote "you're free to go, by the way your friend is dead".
> > >
Kenneth Walker was a loving husband, devoted father and
responsible civic oriented individual who was involved in the
local community. Not only had Kenny never been in trouble with law; when
they pulled his record they couldn't even find a speeding ticket! So what
it amounts to is that if you are a black male in this country, no matter how
righteous, your life is subject to come down to a "judgment call". To add
insult to injustice, this tragedy is being stonewalled and quietly swept
under the rug by local government officials. From what we understand, the
entire incident was caught on tape. The Sheriff's Department is refusing to
release the tape,
which is a matter of public record under the "Freedom of Information" Act.
Columbus is a small town. The "Good Old Boy" network is very much alive
here and the longer they hold the tape, the more likely it will be altered
or disappear all together (remember the 90 seconds missing from the
Cincinnati tape). If this had happened in a major city it would have gained
national attention by now. This is where we need your help.
Pass this email along to as many people as possible and contact the
following news networks about this case.
www.cnn.com
www.bet.com
www.abcnews.com
Blacks in Columbus, Ga. Protest Police Brutality
by Susie Chandler
Special to the NNPA from the Columbus (Ga.) Times
Originally posted 1/16/2004
COLUMBUS, Ga. (NNPA) - Amid chilly winds and dropping temperatures, hundreds stood patiently, shoulder to shoulder outside the Columbus Consolidated Government Center and listened. The crowd listened as speaker after speaker took his turn at the podium to address the death of. Kenneth B. Walker, who was recently shot and killed by a Muscogee County Sheriff.
The deputy shot Mr. Walker in the forehead after deputies pulled over the car he was riding in on Interstate I-85. The local coroner has said there were two shots found in the body, both in the head.
Wayne Baker, pastor, Spirit Filled Methodist Church, was the first to speak to the crowd following the opening prayer.
''I share your grief, I feel your pain,'' said Pastor Baker. ''On (December 10) a grave injustice was done in this city. Four young men were dragged out of their car, beaten like animals, dragged in separate directions. Three survived to tell the story.
Unfortunately, Kenny did not survive to tell his story. Murder was committed. There is no doubt this was a homicide.''
Pastor Baker's message was interrupted several times with amens and applause from the listeners.
Yet as these words were uttered, J.H. Flakes, Jr., pastor, Fourth Street Missionary Baptist Church, was urging the crowd to remain calm.
''I know you are deeply wounded, hurt and in pain. We come frustrated, confused and angry. You have a right to be angry, but not violent.'' Flakes urged the community to work together as to bring some beauty out of an ugly situation.
''Let us support all of the requests for a through investigation from the GBI to the Justice Department.''
NAACP President Edward DuBose told the crowd, ''Tday, there are tears in my eyes, tears of anger and tears of frustration. In 10 seconds, a daughter became fatherless, a wife became a widower and a mother lost her son. After this gathering today, we want action and God knows it’s about time. We have been patient, we have been on our best behavior, but now it is time for action. It's too late for Kenneth, but if we don't do something now - whose son is next?”
Speaking on behalf of the Columbus Ministerial Alliance, Pastor Baker presented several of the organizations requests to the Sheriff's Department.
“We ask Columbus to stop this Taliban, vigilante approach to law enforcement; we ask Sheriff Johnson to step aside; we ask for an independent investigation to include the investigation of search and seizure tactics as well; we ask the governor, the attorney general and the federal government to intervene in this investigation; we ask for adequate compensation for those who were victimized, the dead as well as the living; we ask that those who did this be brought to justice and let the chips fall where they may; and we want assurances that this dastardly, capricious, malicious act must never happen again.”
Everyone was urged to take the message back to their community and start the action process by registering people to vote. ''We can talk and talk and assemble, but unless we do what's necessary, there will never be change,'' said Pastor Flakes.
How Did The Tragedy Happen?
On Wednesday, December 16, four professional African-American men were supposedly identified by a police informant as drug suppliers from Miami who were heavily armed. Who really was inside the vehicle were four friends en route to a local restaurant to continue their weekly ritual of male/friendship bonding.
All of that changed when the gray Yukon was pulled over. Eyewitnesses recounted the incident as the men were being physically snatched from the car, guns pointed directly in their faces and to the head area, being thrown to the ground and not being allowed to ask even the simplest of questions: Why?
It was during this time that 39-year-old Kenneth Walker was shot. According to the sheriff, he was shot after failing to show both of his hands. ''Mr. Walker refused to follow a direct command from the deputy.” The deputy in turn felt his life was threatened and therefore he fired two bullets that would end Walker's life.
When the dust settled, a terrible mistake had been made. Walker and his companions were not drug dealers and they were not armed. The car was searched and no drugs were found.
Sheriff Johnson has stated on several occasions that Walker was not under any type of investigation. He was not armed during the time of the shooting. There were no drugs found on his person, nor were there drugs found in the car in which he was riding.
Johnson addressed the shooting of Walker by a Muscogee County Deputy at several press conferences. However, the sheriff has offered few clues and even less information concerning the death of the unarmed 39-year-old man.
According to the Sheriff's Department’s account, deputies, acting on information from the Metro Narcotics Task Force, pulled over a gray Yukon on I-85 around 9 P.M. on Wednesday, December 10. However, what happened after that is an issue, which remains cloudy, with few answers and even fewer facts. What has been clearly established is that Walker was not involved in any criminal activity. He did not have a criminal record. And Walker was not armed.
Walker did not 'resist' arrest. He was shot twice by a deputy who the Sheriff's department refuses to name. Walker was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead at around 2:25 a.m. on Thursday, December 11.
The Sheriff maintains the men were stopped because they had information to suggest they were drug suppliers from Miami who were heavily armed. An apartment in North Columbus was said to have been under surveillance for some time because the Metro Narcotics Task Force suspected it was being used for illegal drug sales. The informant allegedly told law enforcement officers he was waiting on his suppliers.
Some men allegedly showed up and the informant told law enforcement officials all the drugs he had were leaving the apartment. He also said the men were driving a gray Yukon and heavily armed.
After the shooting the other three men were taken away in separate patrol cars and held for more than four hours. It was only after they were released that they got the news that their friend was dead. It is important to note that there were no drugs found in the car or on the young men in question and there were no weapons found in the car.
The Sheriff’s Department has since admitted it made a mistake in the identity of the vehicle under suspicion, saying a grave mistake was made. The deputy involved in the shooting has been placed on administrative leave with pay. Even more tragic, this case of mistaken identity has left a 3-year-old without her father, a young wife, a widower, a mother without her son, a community without one of its most ideal citizens and the African-American community in turmoil, yet again, over a killing that did not have to happen.
