Son Of Martin Luther King Says Father ‘Would Be Greatly Disappointed’ In Ferguson Violence

Appearing on CNN, the son of Martin Luther King Jr. said his father “would be disappointed” in the violent riots and protests that broke out in the wake of the grand jury decision in Ferguson, Missouri. The King family has been very vocal in denouncing the violence following the grand jury decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson, who resigned Saturday from the Ferguson Police Department.

Dr. Alveda King, the niece to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., responded to the Times op-ed justifying the riots. She said it was “time we circumvent riots with compassion.” She appeared on Fox and Friends over the weekend.

“I don’t know that any of us can really speak for my father, but I will try the best that I can based on some of his writings and the views that he took,” said Martin Luther King III. “He would be greatly disappointed.”

King said that while he would be sad for the family and the loss of life, the language of violence was foreign to the peaceful civil rights hero.

“Secondly, he would be disappointed that it erupted into a scenario of violence, all across the community,” he said. “He used to say that violence is the language of the unheard. And he constantly talked about finding non violent ways to address our conflicts. So he would be always advocating non violence.”