The World Around You

It looks like Larry Armistead, Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright’s right-hand man, may have defused the situation surrounding the checkpoint at Montgomery Mall. According to this morning’s Montgomery Advertiser,

Security video that shows disorderly youths, fistfights, frightened shoppers and panicked merchants at the Montgomery Mall shocked Montgomery church leaders into vowing to condemn the behavior from their pulpits.

The clergy and church leaders said Thursday they plan to tell their congregations that parents need to be more accountable for their children. The May 24 video they viewed showed in detail what prompted police to set up checkpoints at the Montgomery Mall on Saturday night.

Larry Armstead, an assistant to Mayor Bobby Bright, arranged for the community members to see and discuss the video with Montgomery Police Chief John Wilson.

After watching the tapes, the group agreed that something had to be done.

“We have to be getting in the homes and we have to be getting to the parents,” said Johnnie Carr, a longtime civil rights activist. “We have worked too hard and too long to be torn down by a situation like this.”

The Rev. Ezekiel Pettway of Maggie St. Baptist Church said churches have to do more to keep young people out of trouble. The video also prompted him to sympathize with mall shop owners.

“We need to put ourselves in the place of someone who owns a business at Montgomery Mall,” he said. “If businesses leave, what will happen to the mall?”

The video even seemed to convince the leaders that the police actions were not racially based.

The church leaders who spoke after watching the video agreed that the police action was not racially motivated.

“People say it is a racial problem but I don’t see a white kid in the video,” said the Rev. D.B. Bennett of King Hill Baptist Church.

I hope this does lead to the issue being addressed in other forums and maybe we can make Montgomery Mall a safe and enjoyable place to shop once again.