Dallas Holds Vigil for Marcellus Khaliifah Williams – Strike Back! News

Dallas, TX – Nearly 80 people gathered late Thursday evening, September 26th, at the Grassy Knoll in downtown Dallas for a vigil honoring the late Marcellus Khaliifah Williams. Williams was executed by the state of Missouri on September 24 for a 1998 murder that DNA evidence showed he did not commit. The unusual numbers for the death penalty vigil showed the community's grief, frustration and righteous anger.

The vigil began with an evening prayer led by a local imam. A speaker read a poem by Williams that included the lines: “In the face of the highest arrogance and ethnic cleansing of any definition…your laughter is still heard and somehow you can smile, O resilient children of Palestine!”

Another speaker from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization said: “The path to ending the murder of innocent people in the United States begins with control over policing. We believe that the community most affected by police should have control of the police. “In short, we believe in community control of the police.” The vigil ended with a song.

The event was organized by the Dallas Chapter of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR), supported by the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the Progressive Student Union at the University of Texas at Arlington, Movement for Black Lives, Palestinian Youth Movement and In Defense of Black Lives Life.

Ammar Hussein of NAARPR Dallas said: “Marcellus Khaliifah Williams was executed by a morally bankrupt, racially biased police and justice system. The unnecessary suffering and deaths of many thousands of Black and brown people across the country could be completely avoided if our communities had oversight and control over their police. We cannot allow more innocent people like Williams to meet their untimely ends. When he was convicted and sent to death row in 1998, we needed community control over the police. 26 years later we need it, now perhaps more than ever.”

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