The Southern Christian Leadership Conference has suspended the president of its Georgia chapter after he suggested African-American families should arm themselves, according to a Birmingham TV station.
Frustrated over recent police shootings of unarmed black men, the Rev. Sam Mosteller, head of the Georgia SCLC, told reporters Tuesday that “nonviolence hasn’t worked.” The SCLC was co-founded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to coordinate nonviolent direct action to hasten the desegregation of public accommodations throughout the South.
SCLC national president Dr. Charles Steele told ABC 33/40 Mosteller’s comments were not consistent with the organization’s principles. Mosteller agreed to an indefinite suspension that includes nonviolence training, Steele said.
Mosteller’s remarks came one week after 23-year-old Goodyear employee Nicholas Thomas was fatally shot by Smyrna police serving an arrest warrant on a probation violation. Police say Thomas tried to run over officers in a customer’s Maserati, though lawyers hired by the dead man’s family have challenged the official account.
Last month, 27-year-old Anthony Hill, who suffered from bipolar disorder, was shot and killed by a DeKalb County police officer. The officer alleged the Afghanistan war veteran charged him in a threatening manner. Hill was nude and unarmed at the time.
“You stand there, they shoot. You run, they shoot. We’re going to have to take a different tack,” Mosteller said. “Nobody is protecting the black community.”
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