Tensions high a year after white Muscogee County deputy killed a Black businessman
Tuesday, December 14, 2004 at 04:10PM
TheSpook
A year ago, a sheriff's deputy fired two bullets from a submachine gun
into Kenneth Walker's temple. Those shots are still reverberating.
Walker, an insurance analyst, was black. David Glisson, the Muscogee
County deputy, is white. Glisson thought he was tussling with a drug
suspect. Walker, 39, was riding home from partying with friends.The
fallout from the hurried struggle on the side of an interstate keeps
falling. There was a recall effort against the sheriff and, in
November, racially divisive elections for sheriff and district
attorney. Biracial reconciliation groups have formed, conspiracy
theories abound and distrust permeates Columbus. On Friday, the Walker
family filed a $100 million lawsuit against the deputy, the sheriff and
the county, alleging that Walker was "executed." The family is
represented by Bill Campbell, a former Atlanta mayor, and Willie Gary,
a high-octane plaintiffs attorney. Last month, a grand jury deliberated 41
minutes before voting not to indict Glisson on murder or manslaughter
charges. Glisson reportedly made an emotional statement to the panel.
"They probably believed it was an accidental shooting," the special
prosecutor, Dougherty County District Attorney Ken Hodges, said. [more]