We need more than ever to listen to King

Has everyone forgotten the riots in 1968 when Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated? In Chicago, the empty expressways? The wall of fire down West Madison Street? Downtown Chicago barricaded, protected by military vehicles soldiers armed with machine guns? The Loop empty except for police and military vehicles? My Dad and I went to the Greyhound Bus station, which was in the Loop, to get my sister, so I was there to see it. I hoped to never see anything like that again. But here we are with something similar happening again.

Has everyone forgotten all of the protests and riots through the years since over unjustified killings and brutality by police? How can a police officer be too stupid to know the possible consequences of wrong actions before he does them? It is not enough that the officer has been arrested and charged with third degree murder. The charge is insufficient and he should be held accountable for the riots that he triggered. The other officers who stood by without trying to stop the killing should be arrested as accomplices.

The media should be replaying the speeches of Dr. King. We need them now more than ever. We need to learn how to live with equality and diversity.

Richard Lorimer

Streamwood