Loved ones of Alton Sterling, a black man whose fatal shooting on July 5, 2016, by Baton Rouge police captured national attention and touched off intense protests, and two law enforcement officers—one black and one white—who were ambushed and killed in the city 12 days later are among those taking part in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day discussion today.
“I just feel like love is the key. If we just go about this loving one another and not judging one another, I feel as if things will be better,” says Trenisha Jackson, whose husband, Montrell Jackson, described the difficulties of being both a black man and a police officer in a Facebook post days before his death. Trenisha Jackson will join in the conversation this morning in Dallas.
Omar Jahwar, a pastor and CEO of the Dallas-based nonprofit Urban Specialists, says he hopes his group’s event, which is billed as a conversation about the violence as well as racial issues in America, sends “a signal of unity out.”
“What we’re saying is that if we’re going to make this work, we all have to be a part of this,” Jahwar says.
About 1,000 people are set to attend, including King’s daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, and Texas lawmakers U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican, and U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Democrat.
Sterling was fatally shot as two white police officers pinned him to the pavement outside a North Foster Drive convenience store. The killing was captured on cellphone video and circulated widely online, sparking demonstrations. On July 17, 2016, a black military veteran killed three officers and wounded three others in Baton Rouge before he was shot dead. Baton Rouge police officers Montrell Jackson and Matthew Gerald were killed along with East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Deputy Brad Garafola. Deputy Nick Tullier was wounded and is still recovering from injuries sustained in the shooting.
Tonja Garafola, Garafola’s widow, and Andricka Williams, the mother of three of Alton Sterling’s children, also will take part in today’s discussion. Read more.
