On Saturday night, the leadership of the Baptist Ministers Union held a press conference at Greater True Vine Baptist Church to show their support for the family of Roy Middleton, who was shot twice in the leg by Escambia County deputies two weeks earlier.
Middleton was unarmed in his front yard looking through his mother’s car at the time he was shot.
The shooting has triggered a maelstrom with state and local civil rights issue and with the daily newspaper, which has kept the incident on its front page and its editorial pages for the past two weeks.
At the press conference, the Baptist Ministers Union also said that it would request a meeting with Sheriff David Morgan to seek answers to several questions that the African-American community has about the incident. Dr. Larry Watson, Jr., pastor of Englewood Missionary Baptist Church and president of the ministers’ union, said that he has appointed a delegation to meet with the sheriff.
The Independent News spoke after the press conference with Sheriff David Morgan, who said that he looked forward to meeting with the ministers. He said that he would do his best to answer all their questions.
“When Leroy Boyd (founder and president of Movement for Change) was alive, he often met with me about concerns with the jail or an arrest,†said Morgan. “We would go over all the facts. And sometimes we would agree to disagree, but Leroy and I would always shake hands when we finished.â€
Sheriff Morgan also said that he expected the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to complete its investigation of the shooting and issue its report within the next few weeks.