YouTube has the video Activist Arrested at MLK Breakfast in Worcester.

Published on Jan 18, 2016

The MLK breakfast at Quinsigamond Community College was interrupted when a man at the back of gathering began handing out pamphlets and was confronted by authorities.

Chris Horton, a Worcester resident and member of the Worcester Anti-Foreclosure Team, was escorted out in handcuffs after passing out pamphlets that read, “Bring Our Wealth Home!” and “Black and Brown Wealth Matters!” Mr. Horton was brought to the ground while being taken into custody. An ambulance was summoned.

Mr. Horton, of 10 Tower St., Worcester, was charged with assault and battery on a police officer. The arrest was made by the campus police. According to a QCC spokesman, Mr. Horton told officers “he had a previous injury and asked to be taken to the hospital.” He was transported to UMass Memorial Medical Center.

Video by Rick Cinclair

Do you think there may have been any witnesses as to what happened here? Do you suppose their testimony could clear up whether or not Chris assaulted a police officer? If we let police officers behave this way in front of a huge audience, but do not hold them accountable, what message is society sending to police officers?

I have been wondering, do you think that Martin Luther King, Jr. would have wanted his life’s work to be commemorated at decorous little breakfasts where someone would be arrested for standing up for the rights of the poor and the powerless?