MLK Jr.'s niece Alveda King speaks out against rioting overshadowing protests over George Floyd's death
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Martin Luther King Jr.’s niece made an appearance on Fox News to address the rioting and violence that unfolded in Atlanta during the protest over the death of George Floyd.
“Our mayor here in Atlanta has done an incredible job telling people to go home,” King told “Fox & Friends Weekend.”
King continued, “She spoke with that authority as a mayor and a mother. However, all of us can calm this storm. Burning and looting are not good. It does lead to more violence: violence begets violence, so, I believe Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘when injustice anywhere is a threat to injustice everywhere.’”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}King said that though the death of Floyd, a black man who died while under police custody, was terrible, “the violence must be stopped.”
Elected and community leaders alike have condemned the violent riots that broke out across the nation following the death of George Floyd, with fears of further violence over the weekend.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Demonstrations in several cities, including Minneapolis, Atlanta, New York, Denver and Portland, started peacefully on Friday but turned violent at night as police and protesters clashed. The riots led to the destruction of police and private property, with rioters looting many businesses.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms gave an emotional speech on Saturday morning, citing the actions of looters who smashed windows and threw bottles, rocks and knives at law enforcement as “not a protest” and “not Atlanta.”
“You’re not honoring the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement,” Bottoms said. “When you burn down this city, you’re burning down our community.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“You are disgracing this city, you are disgracing the life of George Floyd and every other person who has been killed in this country,” she added. “We are better than this. We’re better than this as a city, we are better than this as a country.”
King said that the “violence must stop.” She also reacted to the MLK Jr. quote that rioting was the voice of the unheard.
“People of America, your voices are being heard. Now, let us come together in unity and faith and love and communicate, solve the problem; violence will not do that,” King said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}King recounted her home being bombed in the 1960s, saying her father, minister A.D. King, intervened against the protesters who were seeking to do more damage. “I remember my father standing on a car, we got out of the house safely, and he was standing on the car and he said to the people: ‘please, go home. Don’t be violent, go home. If you have to hit somebody, hit me, but I’d rather you go home. I’m safe, my family is safe, go home.’”
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King went on to say, “I believe if Daddy was here today, or my grandad Martin Luther King Sr., my uncle Martin Luther King Jr. -- go home and pray.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She concluded, “Stop the violence.”