RALLY LEADERS CALL FOR ANSWERS, URGE CALM

Church Coalition Wants Sheriff To Step Aside During GBI Investigation

Between the opening prayer and the benediction came the vows that last
week's killing of Kenny Walker would not be forgotten, would not be "swept
under."

About 350 people gathered in Monday's chilly morning weather at the steps
of the Government Center and heard the president of a local church
coalition call on civic, political and religious leaders of the city to
ensure a thorough investigation into the Wednesday night shooting.

Walker, a 39-year-old Columbus husband and father, was unarmed when he was
fatally shot by a Muscogee County deputy sheriff on Interstate 185.

"There was a homicide; whether justifiable or unjustifiable, time will
tell," said the Rev. Wayne Baker, president of the Interdenominational
Ministerial Alliance. "This dastardly, capricious, malicious act must never
happen again."

On Wednesday evening, Walker and three friends were stopped while riding in
an SUV that police say had been spotted leaving a North Columbus apartment
under surveillance for drug activity. Metro Narcotics Task Force agents had
received an informant's tip that a grey Yukon would be carrying four men,
all from Miami and armed. The four men were ordered from the vehicle and in
the ensuing activity, the deputy shot Walker.

Police said none of the men were armed nor were any drugs found in the
Yukon in which Walker was a passenger. None of the men were charged with a
crime and were released later.

On Friday, Muscogee County Sheriff Ralph Johnson, having completed his
department's investigation into the shooting, asked the state for an
independent investigation. That day agents from the Georgia Bureau of
Investigation arrived in Columbus. When the GBI is done investigating, it
will turn its findings over to the Muscogee County District Attorney.

Attempts to reach Johnson on Monday were not successful.

Meanwhile, many in the community want answers. Among the questions: Who was
the deputy who fired the fatal shot?

Johnson refuses to release his name, citing the investigation.

During Monday's rally, Baker, flanked by community figures, said Johnson
would be held accountable for the actions of his subordinates and their
"continued Hitlerian acts against the African-American community."

Several of the ministers who spoke applauded the community for exercising
patience in the days after Walker's killing.

"I want to thank you for not being violent," said the Rev. Johnny Flakes,
pastor of Fourth Street Baptist Church. Flakes urged continued patience
with the GBI's investigation and asked the crowd to channel its anger into
positive activities by registering people to vote.

"We can talk and talk and we can assemble, but unless we do what it takes
to make a change, there will never be a change," he said.

In an eight-point plan, Baker outlined the alliance's demands. Among them
was a call for Johnson "to step aside."

To loud applause, Baker asked, "Are you naive enough to think that you can
fairly investigate your own inadequacies?" Baker then asked for an
investigation into the "search and seizure tactics" of the sheriff's
department.

Saying the incident, "could not stand in the city of Columbus, Georgia,"
state Rep. Calvin Smyre added that he has "not seen a cloud over Columbus
like this in many, many years."

Smyre called GBI director Vernon Keenan on Monday morning to relay his
concerns.

"I asked him to call on state and federal assistance, whatever he needed
for his disposal and he said if necessary, they would do that," said Smyre,
who described the conversation as "very amicable." Smyre said he "felt very
comfortable" that Keenan would "do everything in his power to get to the
facts."

"He said he was 'going to do the investigation and let the chips fall where
they may,' " Smyre said.

Though a majority of the audience was black, the ministers called on the
rest of the community to rally to their side.

"To the politicians and our legislative teams, change these evil tactics of
search and seizure that violate civil and human rights," Baker said. "To
the white churches: You dropped the ball during slavery. Your brand of
Christianity brought about Jim Crow and segregation. You failed to show
during the civil rights era. But you've got another chance here to do the
right thing. Stand with us."

A group of women in attendance said they were gratified to see at least one
city council official at the rally.

"My only disappointment is that it was not community wide," said Dr.
Georgina Asante, a Columbus physician. Asante said she thanked Councilor
Wayne Anthony for taking the time to attend.

Asante and her sister, Dorothy, said they had their own ideas for a a "One
Columbus," the city's much publicized motto to unite perceived geographical
and racial divisions.

"Every official should've been out here," they said. "Kenneth wasn't just
somebody from another city. Regardless whether it was accidental or on
purpose, one of your citizens fell dead."

Said Dorothy Asante: "You take people for who they are, what they are. Just
because the officer happened to be white, he just happened to be white. I
want to know the truth. I don't hate him. People just want to know the
truth about what happened so that we can try to heal each other from that
and move on."