On Monday, America celebrated the national holiday commemorating the life and legacy of community service of slain civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. with events in city after city. King, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, was assassinated in Memphis in 1968.
He had become an international figure in 1963, the year hundreds of thousands of Americans streamed to Washington in late August and heard what became known as the “I Have a Dream” speech. The speech was delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,” King intoned. “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.”
In Washington on Monday, President Obama encouraged Americans to give back to their communities to honor King’s legacy.
“Martin Luther King Jr. lived his life for others, dedicating his work to ensuring equal opportunity, freedom, and justice for all,” Obama said. “I encourage every American to observe this holiday in honor of Dr. King’s selfless legacy by volunteering in their own communities and by dedicating time each day to bettering the lives of those around us.”
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, speaking at the King Center in Atlanta on Monday, recalled King’s “Mountantop” speech delivered on the eve of his death. King’s speech proved to be prophetic.
“And then I got to Memphis,” King intoned more than 40 years ago. “And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?
“Well, I don’t know what will happen now,” King continued. “We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live — a long life; longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. So I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”
King was shot and killed the next day.
Holder told the Atlanta gathering that “our long struggle to end suffering and to eradicate violence goes on.”
And the attorney general referenced the Jan. 8 shootings in Arizona that killed U.S. District Judge John Roll and five others, including a nine-year-old girl. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was critically wounded in the attack. She was shot in the head at close range. Eighteen others also were shot.
“As we continue to mourn those recently lost, and to pray for those now in need of healing and comfort, let us also recommit ourselves to carrying on Dr. King’s work and to honoring the values that were at the center of his life: tolerance; nonviolence; compassion; love; and – above all – justice,” Holder remarked in Atlanta.
The attorney general delivered his remarks on Monday morning in the Eastern time zone of the United States.
On the same day — in the Pacific Northwest, the FBI now says — someone planted a bomb in a backpack along the Martin Luther King Jr. parade route in Spokane, Wash.
“At approximately 9:25 a.m. PST on Monday, 1/17/2011, a suspicious backpack was discovered on a bench at the southeast corner of N. Washington Street and W. Main Avenue in downtown Spokane,” the FBI said. “The Spokane Explosives Disposal Unit was notified and safely neutralized the device. Subsequent preliminary analysis revealed the backpack contained a potentially deadly destructive device, likely capable of inflicting multiple casualties.”
The agency is treating the incident as a case of domestic terrorism. It noted that the suspect should be considered armed and dangerous.
“As a part of this ongoing investigation, the FBI is seeking any information regarding the identity of the person or persons that may have been seen with this backpack from approximately 8:00 a.m. to 9:25 a.m. on Monday, 1/17/2011,” the FBI said. “If anyone has any information regarding this incident, they are requested to immediately contact the FBI. In addition, if anyone took photographs or video in the area of N. Washington Street and W. Main Avenue from approximately 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., they are also requested to contact the FBI as soon as possible.”
Here is the phone number: 206-622-0460.
A bomb was found outside a federal courthouse in Spokane in March 2010.
Earlier this month — on Jan. 12, six days prior to the Tucson shootings — federal prosecutors charged a California man with threatening to kill Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington state.
Charles Turner Habermann, 32, of Palm Springs, was charged with making “two expletive-laden, threatening phone calls” to McDermott’s Seattle office on Dec. 9, 2010.
“In the first call recorded on the office answering system, Habermann threatens to kill Congressman McDermott, his friends and family,” the FBI said. “In the second call Habermann says he will hire someone to put Congressman McDermott ‘in the trash.’”
Last week, the FBI arrested a New Jersey man amid allegations he threatened to kill 47 federal regulators. Vincent P. McCrudden, 49, was accused of creating an “execution list.”
Yesterday in suburban Los Angeles, two students were shot when a gun concealed in a backpack discharged inside Gardena High School.