Actor and comedian Orlando Jones has launched a venture in honor of the late victim Walter Scott to raise funds for families of police shooting victims. Walter L. Scott was a victim of the recent fatal police shooting in North Charleston, South Carolina.
The unfortunate shooting incident of Walter Scott occurred last April 4, 2015 after a daytime traffic stop for a non-functoning brake light. Walter Scott was shot by North Charleston police officer Michael Slagger. The officer was later on charged with murder after a video surfaced which contradicted the police report he filed. The video showed the officer shooting Walter Scott from behind while he was trying to escape.
In a latest release for the said project, called the “Foolish Desperado Fund,” the actor stated that a share of proceeds from his impending event, the Color of Laughter Comedy and Music Festival, will be bequeathed to the cause. The festival, which features hip-hop artist Talib Kweli, will take place at the Duplin County Events Center in Kenansville, N.C., on April 25, 2015. Tickets are $22 in advance at DuplinEvent.com and $25 at the door.
The actor has expressed that action must be made for garner change. “I make my living being foolish but like so many of us I am desperate for change,” Jones expressed in the written announcement. “By doing a concert with Talib Kweli and giving away part of the proceeds, I want to create a platform that will ensure that the families of those killed, including Miriam Carey, Jordan Russell Davis, Latasha Harlins, Rekia Boyd, Anthony Lee and many many others, have a chance to define the narrative about their loved ones before the media and others do it for them.”
Orlando Jones currently stars in the Fox series “Sleepy Hollow.” He grew up in South Carolina and graduated from the College of Charleston. In his statement, he said he has been the victim of racial profiling and that he supports any efforts to stop police cruelty.
“I’ve been pulled over by police on numerous occasions. Sometimes I deserved to be stopped and cited. Other times I fit the description, or that’s just what police protocol is in that particular area. But law enforcement officers are not the enemy,” he said.
“They have an extremely difficult job. They risk their lives daily in the line of duty. I do not believe that any of these murders were committed by cold-blooded killers, I do believe that these people acted out of fear, but an unjustified fear has never been an excuse for taking someone’s life. Something must be done about the breakdown in trust and accountability we’ve been witnessing on the national stage from Ferguson to New York, from California to Ohio. The increasing violence and loss of black life cannot continue.”
“All lives matter and right now young black men are still dying,” he said. “I sincerely hope people who are offended by the phrase, ‘Black Lives Matter,’ can do this basic math.”