Two Roxbury police officers traveled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana this weekend to attend the funeral of one of the three law enforcement officers shot and killed earlier this month in the city.
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Jackson described himself as being exhausted physically and emotionally following the police shooting death of Alton Sterling and he wrote on Facebook.
Days before the deadly shooting last week, Officer Jackson, 32, elaborated in a Facebook post just how taxing it is to be both a police officer and a black man in Baton Rouge during a time of racial tension.
The group, a non-profit community service organization made up of black law enforcement officers, declared July 25 Corporal Montrell Jackson Day.
A memorial service will be held at Healing Place Church on Highland Road beginning at 2 p.m. on Thursday, July 28. “I love you, man”, Jackson’s 24-year-old half-brother, Kendrick Pitts, said at the ceremony. According to police, a “Superman” shield will be pinned to Jackson’s casket. “Baton Rouge loves you”.
The July 17 shootings occurred near the B-Quik convenience store in Southeast Baton Rouge, a family owned store since 1951. But it was another line of Jackson’s that would become a second refrain during his funeral service: “Please don’t let hate infect your heart”.
Authorities say Long stalked Baton Rouge police before ambushing a handful of them.
Mourners described Jackson as a loyal friend, an officer who loved his city and a proud father of his 4-month-old son Mason.
They feel it is important to honor their brother officers.
But rather than focus on Jackson’s sadness, friends and family stressed the message’s hopeful end.
“They’re always hard”, Fendrick said. The suspect was killed by police.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said that just days before the killings of Jackson, officer Matthew Gerald and East Baton Rouge Parish deputy sheriff Brad Garafola, he had stood in the same church, the Living Faith Christian Center in north Baton Rouge, and called for constructive dialogue about police killings. Gerald was buried Friday and Garafola on Saturday.
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