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94 - NUMBER 37
W THON BR S Di g O",
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015
Bond denied for
x-cop on murder
charge in black
man’s death
By Bruce Smith
CHARLESTON (AP) - A judge denied bail Monday
a white former South Carolina police officer charged
i murder in the shooting death of a black motorist,
ing his release would “constitute an unreasonable dan-
to the community.”
1 a brief order, Circuit Judge Clifton Newman denied
d for Michael Slager.
After careful consideration of all the evidence present-
md the nature and the circumstances of the offense,
court finds that the release of (the) defendant would
stitute an unreasonable danger to the community and
request for release on bond should be denied,” it says,
he former North Charleston officer has been held in
tary confinement since his arrest on murder charges in
April 4 shooting death of Walter Scott.
. bystander’s cellphone video showed Slager firing
it times as Scott tried to run from a traffic stop. The
dent inflamed the national debate about how blacks
treated by law officers.
rosecution and defense attorneys sparred over the
d question during a hearing Thursday and met again
iscuss the case Friday.
Today isn’t cause for celebration. There are no win-
I or losers when one man has lost his life at the hands
nother,” Scott’s brother Anthony Scott said Monday
statement released to the news media. He said he has
idence in the judicial system.
Our family respects the judge’s decision to deny bond
Wichael Slager. We trust in God and our prayer is that
ething like this never happens again to any family,
where,” he added.
statement released by Andy Savage and other mem-
of Slager’s defense team said “we share Michael’s
ppointment in today’s court decision but remain firm-
anvinced that following a review of all the evidence,
y of Michael’s peers will find that he was free of any
linal intent in his actions.”
he prosecutor, Scarlett Wilson, did not respond to a
est for comment.
Gilson on Thursday had called Slager “a firing squad
executioner” and said he planted evidence, taking his
ir from where it fell and dropping it near Scott’s body
ireds of feet away.
Continued On Page 2)
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'ice, barbers meet for first time
since trial
President Barack Obama meets 4-year-old Malik Hall during departure photos with Malik’s uncle, Mau
rice Owens, center, in the Oval Office, Sept 4, 2015. Also pictured, from right, Owens’s sister Ayesha Hall, his
mother Chauvet Wells and his brother Derrick Harpe. Kayah Hall, Owens’s 2-year-old niece, is hidden behind
Ms. Wells. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Plan would bring Martin Luther King Jr. statue to Montgomery
By Angela Tuck
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Statues of Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis can be found on the grounds of the Alabama Capitol. A few
blocks over, there’s a park dedicated to Rosa Parks, and a Freedom Riders museum occupies the old Greyhound bus station.
But there s no monument here for the man who led the Montgomery Bus Boycott, one ofthe nation’s most significant protest movements.
Members of Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church - the church the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once pastored - want to change
that. And they hope to do it by Dec. 1, the 60th anniversary ofthe bus boycott, which was led by King.
“Oftentimes when you are in a city and you’re involved in the movement yourself, you are a lot more modest than others,” said the Rev.
Cromwell Handy, pastor of Dexter Avenue church. “Sometimes it gets by us the significance of the contributions that have been made to the
world.”
Church and community leaders have a plan, a sculptor - Ronald Scott McDowell, who teaches at nearby Tuskegee University - and the
support of local politicians. What’s needed now is $250,000 to complete the project envisioned in 2008 by longtime Atlanta resident Evelyn
G. Lowery, the late wife of the Rev. Joseph Lowery.
The statue will be placed in the courtyard of the Legacy Center, Dexter Avenue’s fellowship hall and office complex, which sits next to
the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Thousands of visitors come to the tiny church every year. On some Sundays, visitors from Canada, the Netherlands and other countries
outnumber the members in attendance. The church has become a popular place of worship for family reunion groups, who come by the
hundreds.
A statue would be a fitting tribute to King, as well as the foot soldiers who ignited the movement, Handy said. An inscription at its base
will honor the ordinary people who took part in the boycott, men and women who organized car pools and walked for miles instead of riding
segregated buses.
The boycott began Dec. 1, 1955, and lasted until Dec. 20, 1956. A federal judge in Montgomery ruled that the city’s bus segregation laws
were unconstitutional. A few months later, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld that decision.
“What’s important to me is that the whole history of Alabama is not being told without that monument,” Handy said. “You don’t have
anything that points you to the leadership. We have all kinds of monuments to the Civil War leaders and we have markers around the city
where different things took place, but we don’t have the level of recognition that is memorialized in the form of the statue.”
Evelyn Lowery, who died at her Atlanta home in 2013, commissioned the statue in her role as chairwoman of the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC) Women.
HARLOTTE (AP) - Charlotte-Mecklenburg police
the North Carolina Local Barbers Association have
duled their first meeting since a mistrial was declared
e case of a white police officer accused in the shoot-
leath of an unarmed black man.
re two groups are set to host the eighth “Cops and
lers” town hall event on Sunday. The gatherings give
African-American community a chance to learn their
s and the appropriate conduct when coming in con-
with police.
addition, the community learns the appropriate be
ar for officers when engaging with the public.
s the first gathering since a mistrial was declared last
th in the case of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Offi-
landall Kerrick, who was accused of voluntary man-
thter in the 2013 death of Jonathan Ferrell.
irker to commemorate African-
American school
CHMOND, Va. (AP) - A state historical marker is-
by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources
commemorate a historic African-American school in
tland.
ie marker will be formally dedicated on Saturday and
en to the public.
ie marker will be located alongside Courtland Com-
ty Center in Courtland.
takers during the event will include Maxine Nowlin,
dent of the Courtland Community Center.
ie historical marker says Courtland School was con-
ted between 1928 and 1929 at a cost of $4,000.
E Courtland School historical marker was approved by the
of Historic Resources during its quarterly meeting in March.
President Barack Obama talks with Duke University Blue Devils men’s basketball players, from right, Quinn
Cook, Tyus Jones, Matt Jones and Grayson Allen during a greet with the team, coaches and University leader
ship prior to an event to honor the team and their 2015 NCAA Championship victory, in the Blue Room of the
White House, Sept. 8, 2015. Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski, background, watches the exchange. (Official White
House Photo by Pete Souza)