Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2015 … One Day We “Will One Day Live in a Nation Where They Will not be Judged by the Color of their Skin but by the Content of their Character”

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY – 2015 ... Continuing in our pursuit of “The Dream”.

Once again we meet on this Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2015 and are asked to reflect on “The Dream” and the fact that we as a Nation have come a long way since the 1960′s. I personally make it a point every MLK day to listen to the words of the slain Civil Rights leader and his “I Have a Dream” speech and reflect on what it means and where we are today with that dream. Make no mistake about it America, we are a much better country for Martin Luther King Jr’s dream.  The United States of America has come a long way. Do not let anyone ever tell you we have not. However, “The Dream” is much like being a Christian or life in general. You don’t just all of a sudden say, okay, I have reached my goal and nothing more is needed. Have we come a long way, yes. However, does that mean we have much more to do and always will, you betcha!

The greatness of MLK Jr’s message is that it is for all people, not just one to blacks and another to whites. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream, and it was one of inclusion that we “will not be judged by the color of our skin but by the content of our character”. Do not let any one else try and interpret that dream for you. Never let those with an agenda that is so far from “The Dream” to make you feel less or call you something that you are not. It is sad to witness today that those that are considered Civil Rights activists are more about race hustling and division, than they are about “The Dream”.  Martin Luther King Jr. was correct, it is never about the color of one’s skin, it is always about the content of one’s character. Always! Do not ever forget, it is always about character. Those who would highjack “The Dream” for their own self-serving purposes and agenda and try to divide us do America a disservice and do a disservice to Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King – I Have A Dream Speech – August 28, 1963

January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968

Full text of MLK Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech, can be read here.

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

[...]

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

UPDATE I: 7 speeches by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that stand the test of time (Video).

WAR ON THE POLICE: Gun Related Deaths for U.S. Police Officers Rose by 56% in 2014 … Krauthammer: “If There’s A Pattern Here, It’s The War on Police.”

The liberal MSM and race hustlers would like you to believe that cops target black men … the truth is that there is a “War on Police”.

If you believed President Barack Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, NYC Mayor De Blasio, race hustler Al Sharpton and the liberal media, you would think that there is a sudden epidemic of white police officers targeting and killing black men. To listen to these race-baiters, centuries of racism are at the root of this “War on Young Black Men,” with  the recent deaths of Eric Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and Eric Brown in Brooklyn, NY. REALLY? Let’s take a look at the facts and we will see that the facts show that there is a war on the police. In 2014, there was a 56% increase in gun-related deaths of police officers in the United States. Many Americans are only aware of the ambush murders of NYPD officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Lu; however, there there have been so many more. According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 50 police officers dies in the line of duty in 2014, where 1/3 or 15 officers were shot and killed in ambush style shootings. Sadly, a total of 126 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty in 2014, a 24 percent increase from 2013. God bless their souls and thank you for your service.

Gun related deaths of U.S. law enforcement officers rose by 56 percent in 2014 compared to the previous year, with about one-third of officers killed in an ambush, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund said on Tuesday.

Across the country, 50 officers were killed by guns in 2014 compared to 32 in 2013, according to the website of the non-profit fund, which aims to increase safety for law enforcement officers.

The most deadly states were California, Texas, New York, Florida and Georgia, the group said.

“Fifteen officers were shot and killed in ambush, more than any other circumstance of fatal shootings in 2014,” the website said.

Charles Krauthammer: “If There’s A Pattern Here, It’s The War on Police. I Don’t See A War on Young Black Men”

Real Clear Politics:

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: Jason [Riley] is right. The narrative about it’s open season on young black men and police are responsible is preposterous. Let’s take the most egregious case. The one where I think there was a miscarriage of justice with the grand jury in Staten Island in the Garner case. There is not a shred of evidence that race had had anything to do with that event. Even in Ferguson here was a guy who essentially assaulted a police officer, tried to get his gun. There was no evidence that he was acting because of racial motives.

I’ll tell you if there is a narrative here, if there is a pattern, it’s what’s happening on the streets in regard to police. Let me give you just a run down. Same day as the shooting in New York, St. Louis off-duty cop shot at. December 21, Tarpon Springs, Florida, police officer shot at, run over by a car. Killed. Christmas Day, Durham [NC], police officer shot at. December 27th, Flagstaff [AZ], police officer shot and on the street. Yesterday, Dade City, Florida, two officers shot at. Yesterday, L.A., two police officers shot at, on the highway. If there is a pattern here, it’s the war on police. I don’t see a war on young black men.

Daily Commentary – Monday, December 29, 2014 – As Race Relations Continue to Boil Over Between Police and Blacks

• Police have to wonder if the job is worth it

Ferguson Police Officer Placed on Unpaid Leave After Calling Damaged Michael Brown Memorial a “Pile of Trash” … Media creates own MSM Story

So much for the First amendment when you are a police officer … They will get their pound of flesh no matter who it is.

Ferguson police department spokesman, Officer Timothy Zol, has been placed on unpaid leave after calling the damaged Michael Brown memorial, “a pile of trash.” The memorial for Michael Brown, which resides in the middle of the road near the Canfield Green apartment complex, where Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson, was run over by a car. After first stating that he was misquoted, Zoll admitted that he made the statement. For that he was placed on unpaid leave. WOW, UNREAL. I have just one question, what happens if this memorial cause an accident and someone gets injured or killed? Wouldn’t that be ironic. The damn memorial is in the middle of the street, not on the side of it or the sidewalk. How is that even legal?

Most likely the comment, although could have been worded differently, was in reaction to the stupidity of the WAPO to even make this a news worthy issue. With everything else going on in the world that is news, the WAPO wanted to know what the Ferguson police was going to do about a memorial in the middle of the street that was run over by a car. Maybe the officers comment should have been, are you frigging kidding, go report a real story.

Well, at least it is supposed to be …

A Ferguson police spokesman was placed on unpaid leave after acknowledging remarks to a Washington Post blogger in which he called the Michael Brown memorial a “pile of trash,” city officials said Saturday.

One day earlier, the city stood behind the spokesman, Officer Timothy Zoll — claiming he had been misquoted — after an inquiry into the damaged memorial in the middle of Canfield Drive. But officials retreated in a one-page statement issued Saturday.

Zoll was “confronted with the results” of a department investigation into the remarks attributed to him, city officials said.

The officer “admitted to department investigators” that he made the statement attributed to him” and had “misled” superiors about the interview.

The scapegoating by Ferguson PD. Who thinks that Zoll will be fired to appease the black community? A more secure location, You mean like out of the frigging street? Negative remarks do not reflect the Michael Brown memorial. HUH? Who actually thinks fellow police officers think that Michael Brown is a hero that deserves to be memorialized after he attacked and had his way would have harmed a police officer?

“The City of Ferguson wants to emphasize that negative remarks about the Michael Brown memorial do not reflect the feelings of the Ferguson Police Department and are in direct contradiction to the efforts of city officials to relocate the memorial to a more secure location,” the statement reads. The department noted that even after the officer’s initial denial, it “continued the investigation until the truth was discovered.”

Just so that we have the facts correct, let’s get this correct. So Ferguson protesters can call police officers “pigs,”‘ they are allowed to taunt the police, and make death threats against them as well as throw bottles and other objects at them. And of course it was perfectly A-O-K for Ferguson protesters to express their First amendment rights of freedom of speech and chant in Ferguson, Missouri after the ambush shooting deaths of two NYPD officers, “Pig’s in a blanket, smells like bacon.”

But a police officer call the memorial that was run over by a car to a teen who robbed a store, assaulted a store owner, resisted arrest and attacked a police officer threatening to take his gun, a pile of trash is evil. REALLY? Seems like night and day when one compares the two. But only the police are supposed to give in, never the protesters. Hate speech is okay, but not this. How are the police even suppose to do their job when every little thing is going to be examined with a microscope, because one way or another, THEY are going to get a pound of someone’s flesh.

Maybe the police in Ferguson should just go on strike and let the citizens fend for themselves.

Violent Protests Break Out in Berkeley, MO After White Police Officer Shoots and Kills Black Male Near Ferguson (Male Killed ID’d as 18 Year Old Antonio Martin)

FOLKS, WHAT PART DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND … IF YOU POINT A GUN, REAL, FAKE OR WHATEVER, AT A POLICE OFFICER AND YOU WILL BE SHOT DEAD.

White police officer shoots and kills unarmed armed black male. Riots broke out last night around 11 pm in Berkeley, Missouri after a police officer shot and killed a black man at the gas station in the 6800 block of N. Hanley Road in Berkeley.  According to reports, the suspect allegedly pointed a gun at police. St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar says the Berkeley shooting victim was black and the officer white. Berkeley is about 2 miles from Ferguson, Missouri. Needless to say, the shooting incident sparked riots from the community.

click HERE to watch VIDEO via KSDK-5

A crowd of about 200-300 people gathered outside of a gas station in north St. Louis County overnight after a Berkeley police officer shot and killed an armed 18-year-old.

According to Sgt. Brian Schellman, a spokesman with the St. Louis County Police Department, the shooting took place at 11:15 p.m. at the Mobil station in the 6800 block of N. Hanley Road.

The officer was responding to a reported theft at the gas station when he noticed two young men along the side of the building. As the officer walked toward the front door, one of those men pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the officer, Schellman said.

The officer opened fire, striking the armed man, who died at the scene. The second man ran off.

The incident is reported by the St. Louis County Police Facebook page:

The St. Louis County Police Department is conducting an investigation into a shooting death involving a Berkeley, Missouri police officer.

At approximately 11:15 PM on December 23, 2014, a police officer with the City of Berkeley was conducting a routine business check at the Mobile Gas Station located at 6800 N. Hanley when he observed two male subjects on the side of the building.

The Berkeley Police Officer exited his vehicle and approached the subjects when one of the men pulled a handgun and pointed it at the officer. Fearing for his life, the Berkeley Officer fired several shots, striking the subject, fatally wounding him. The second subject fled the scene.

The Berkeley Police Department requested the St. Louis County Police Department’s Crimes Against Persons Unit to handle the investigation. St. Louis County Police Detectives have recovered the deceased subject’s handgun at the scene.

At this time, we cannot confirm the identity of the deceased subject. The investigation is on-going and further details will be provided as the investigation proceeds.

UPDATE I: Officer fatally shoots armed man in town near Ferguson, Missouri

Once again we are presented a picture of an innocent teen, who would never hurt anyone and whose mother said did not even own a gun. Other so-called witnesses on the scene claim he was running away from the police officers. We have heard this song and dance before. It is certain that the gas station had video surveillance so I am sure we will know whether or not the deceased had a gun or not and how it all went down. Get ready for Hands, Part Deux.

An 18-year-old male held a gun “straight out” at a Berkeley, Missouri, police officer before that officer fired “what we think … were three shots,” St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said Thursday. The man — who died after being shot by the officer — is not believed to have fired any shots himself, according to Belmar.

After the officer left his squad car, one of the pair pointed a gun at the officer, who fired multiple times at him, killing him, Schellman said. The second person fled, police said.

The slain man was Antonio Martin, an 18-year-old African-American, his family told CNN.

Police say the officer, whose name wasn’t immediately released, shot in self-defense.

UPDATE II: Berkeley officer kills suspect who pulled gun; police say victim was ‘known’ to police.

Police said they did not know who the second person was, but they called him a “person of interest” and asked for the public’s help to find him.

They said two bystanders on the Mobil parking lot were witnesses.

At a news conference later Wednesday morning, Berkeley Mayor Theodore Hoskins said, “You can’t compare this to Ferguson or the Garner case in New York.” He said the videotape showed the suspect pointing a gun at the officer. He said the city would conduct its own complete investigation, separate from the St. Louis County Police investigation.

“Our overall goal is to project the truth to residents,” Hoskins said.

Among the department’s 31 officers, the mayor said, 17 or 18 are African-American. About 75 percent of the command staff are black, in addition to the mayor, police chief and other city officials, Hoskins added.

“At this point, our review indicates that the police did not initiate this, like Ferguson,” Hoskins said.