Chuck Williams
"Serving the Community"
P.O. Box 3805; Knoxville, Tn. 37917
865-237-8761

Time for Urban Community Leaders to Step UP!!

Instead of crying out "Police Brutality" when law enforcement is doing their jobs in a legal, professional manner to maintain peace in our communities, some Community Leaders in the Urban Community should be seeking to take back our streets.

Fact, three black men shot a Police Officer while they are in the act of committing a crime. The police arrive on the scene and are told that the men fled to a certain area. Upon the arrival of the police, all of the men start running. The police give pursuit and apprehend two of the suspected shooters. No one was beaten, no one's Civil Rights were violated and the name of the third suspect was obtained from the suspects.

Instead of rejoicing the Knoxville NAACP tries to ridicule the police as to how they captured the suspects. The police acted professionally and legally without anyone being hurt or abused.

While at the Tennessee Valley Fair this past Saturday (an event that my family and I as well as most of the community look forward to every year), I witnessed two thugs fighting. Again the officers of Knoxville Police stepped in and immediately were able to subdue one suspect without much of a struggle. The other suspect decides he wants to fight the Police. Four Police Officers wrestled the suspect to the ground, but he still would not stop fighting. More officers arrived on the scene and immediately started maintaining crowd control so that no one else would get involved or get hurt. I immediately started yelling to the suspect to stop fighting before he was hurt. He eventually was bought under control and placed into custody.

Now some of the people in the crowd noticed me talking to the Police and one of them recognized that I was a political figure as well as a community activist and demanded that I hold the police accountable for manhandling the suspect.

I fully explained that at no time did the police ever use unnecessary force and in fact in my opinion, they showed more than reasonable restraint in not either using their tazer gun or tear gas on the suspect while he was fighting. Again at no time was anyone's Civil Rights violated and the police acted very professionally.

I am sick and tired of so called Community Leaders and the Community on a whole making excuses for "misguided or troubled youth" (their words not mine). Good boys do NOT hit Police Officer. We need to step up and not only show support to our law enforcement officers but start speaking out on crime in general, whether its black on black, black on white, white on white, white on black, etc.

The urban community is a melting pot of all races and we need to come together as one. If as a community leader you sit by idly and only speak out to attack the first and last defense of our community the Police and Sheriff Department, than you are not part of the problem but a part of the solution. As many of you know I am seeking a seat on the City Council in the next election and if my thoughts here offend you and you do not vote for me, SO BE IT, I will not compromise myself to be elected to office.

Chuck Williams
Community Activist and
Political Figure
Knoxville, Tn.