Dallas holds vigil for Marcellus Khaliifah Williams
Dallas, TX – Close to 80 people came together late Thursday evening, September 26, at the Grassy Knoll in downtown Dallas for a vigil held to honor the late Marcellus Khaliifah Williams. Williams was executed by the state of Missouri on September 24 for a 1998 murder which DNA evidence showed he did not commit. The unusual numbers for the death penalty-related vigil indicated the community's grief, frustration and righteous anger.
The vigil started with evening prayer led by a local imam. One speaker read a poem by Williams, which included the lines, “In the face of apex arrogance and ethnic cleansing by any definition... still your laughter can be heard and somehow you are able to smile O resilient Children of Palestine!”
Another speaker, from Freedom Road Socialist Organization, said, “The road forward to ending the murder of innocent people in the U.S. begins with control over policing, we believe that the community most affected by the police should have control over the police. In short, we believe in community control of the police.” The vigil concluded with a chant.
The event was organized by the Dallas Chapter of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR), supported by 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.
Ammar Hussein, from NAARPR Dallas, said, “Marcellus Khaliifah Williams was executed by a morally bankrupt, racially biased policing and judicial system. The needless suffering and unnecessary death of many thousands of Black and brown people all across the country could be entirely avoided if our communities had oversight and control of their police. We cannot let more innocent people like Williams meet their untimely end. We needed community control of the police in 1998 when he was convicted and put on death row. 26 years later and we need it, now maybe more than ever.”