Kenneth Walker's Family re-Files $100 Million Suit Against Police for Wrongful Death
Tron Nick
Unprovoked, Unarmed, Innocent Black Man Murdered by Police
The family of a man shot to death by a Muscogee County sheriff's deputy a year ago has filed a $100 million lawsuit against the county, the sheriff and the deputy. The lawsuit was filed in Superior Court this week as the one-year anniversary of 39-year-old Kenneth Walker's death was marked. Meanwhile, more than 300 people gathered Friday to remember Walker in a service at St. Mary's Road United Methodist Church the same church where Walker's funeral was held a year ago. Walker, a black insurance analyst, was shot to death Dec. 10, 2003, during a traffic stop connected to a drug investigation. No drugs or guns were found in the vehicle. The lawsuit alleges the shooting was unprovoked and that Walker was cooperating with deputies at the time. An earlier lawsuit in federal court that did not name the county was later withdrawn. The new lawsuit names as defendants Sheriff Ralph Johnson and Deputy David Glisson. Glisson pulled Walker from an S-U-V and then shot him twice. Glisson told investigators Walker was not listening to his commands to get out of the vehicle. Johnson is accused in the suit of not properly training Glisson on when to use excessive force. Glisson, a 20-year-veteran, was fired from his job earlier this year. The department said it could not comment on the lawsuit but has said Glisson was not following department protocol. A grand jury last month decided not to charge him criminally in the killing. Rev. Daryl Stover urged people at the memorial service to continue pushing federal and state officials to take action in the case. "How good is your voice if you sit and be silent?" Stover said. "Things won't change until you get to movin'." [more] and
"If Kenneth Walker can be killed without cause, then no African-American male is safe on the streets," [more]
