Sharpton Visits Savannah to Support Family of David Willis

The Reverend Al Sharpton went to a Savannah church last night to help raise money for the family of a man shot and killed by police. The funds raised will support 22-year-old David Willis' three children - one of them unborn. Willis, who is Black, was fatally shot Aug. 18 near downtown Savannah after police pulled over the car he was driving, which officers on an anti-robbery taskforce said they considered suspicious because it had no license plates and tinted windows. Willis' girlfriend and their 5-month-old daughter were in the back seat, and two of his friends were in the car, when the shooting occurred at about 3:40 a.m. No one else was injured. Willis' family didn't speak at the event, but they believe the shooting was not justified.

Sharpton has never met Willis before but feels this is a fight he and the rest of the community need to be involved in. Before he entered the church he took time to explain why he was here, saying this case is suspicious to him. "The fact that this man's child was in the car, the fact that he was unarmed, the fact that you can even suggest that in the presence of his baby he'd be doing something illegal. It's like we're always guilty until proven innocent," said Sharpton.

Over 300 people listened to strong words from Reverend Al Sharpton:

"Maybe we are beginning around this country are beginning to wake up, and realize that a lot of things we thought had changed had not changed. Seems like you follow the rule book and you go by the training on one side of town and you shoot first and ask questions later on our side of town."

Organizers of the fundraiser say the event isn't meant to point fingers - but to provide a future for Willis' three children. "I'm not here to be the police and jury. I wasn't there, but I tell you I want to help the family, I want to help those children," says Reverend Michael Lewis of the Second St. John Baptist Church. "We are here tonight to raise some funds, and raise the consciousness of people, and from the looks of it, it's been raised, cause people are here," Lewis adds. In addition to the monies raised Thursday, a college fund for Willis' children has been set up at Carver State Bank in Savannah.

But Sharpton has a broader message for this crowd:

"If someone commits a crime, they need to be arrested and tried by the courts, and not tried in the streets. We must respect police, and uphold them, but they must respect the law. Otherwise we have the right to question that, and I'm here to be part of that. "

Villagers, what say u?