The Rev. Al Sharpton, a national civil rights leader and
presidential candidate, is heading to Columbus.
He's accepted an invitation to visit the area sometime in the next
10 days, a National Action Network representative said
Wednesday during a news conference. The NAN, headed locally
and statewide by Columbus' A.D. Carter, is the activist
organization Sharpton heads nationally.
Sharpton is expected to address last week's shooting death of
Kenneth B. Walker, a black Columbus resident whose funeral
was Tuesday.
"A lot of people feel we need some national presence. This
issue is not isolated in the country," Carter said, speaking at
Spirit Filled Ministries.
Walker and three friends were riding in a gray GMC Yukon along
I-185 on Dec. 10 when they were stopped by officers with the
Metro Narcotics Task Force Agency and the sheriff's department,
according to official accounts.
Acting on a tip from an informant that a Yukon would be carrying
armed men from Miami, deputies and agents ordered the men
to exit the vehicle. Walker was shot in the head after authorities
say he failed to comply with the deputy's commands.
Authorities later learned that none of the men was armed and
none was in possession of drugs. The three other passengers
in the Yukon were questioned by authorities and released.
Sheriff Ralph Johnson said there was no information that Walker
had been involved in any kind of criminal activity.
Johnson has refused to release the name of the deputy involved
in the shooting, citing it as part of the investigation. The deputy,
an officer with more than 18 years of service, has been
suspended from the department.
The shooting is being investigated by the Georgia Bureau of
Investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation is
conducting a preliminary inquiry.
Carter said Wednesday that Sharpton, who will let local NAN
officials know Friday the exact date of his visit, is not coming to
Columbus "to agitate... . First of all, African-Americans are
intelligent people. We don't have to express ourselves using
violence."
Carter, 27, said Sharpton had already been invited some months
ago to make a campaign stop in Columbus.
The Rev. Wayne Baker, of Spirit Filled, led a community rally
Monday at the Columbus Government Center. He is also the
president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, a group
of black clergy. At the rally, he called on white clergy to get
involved in what many see as a tragic injustice to an innocent
man.
Carter, a member of Spirit Filled, praised Baker for his
leadership.
"I am extremely proud of him," Carter said. Baker offered no
additional comment Wednesday about the possibility of
Sharpton's visit.
The local Rainbow PUSH Coalition has asked its national
president, Jesse Jackson, to come to Columbus. It is not known
yet whether he will visit.
