Slain Baton Rouge officer remembered for urging city unity

The former U.S. Marine who killed three policemen in an ambush in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, this month before he was fatally shot by police will be buried near his mother’s home town in Arkansas, a funeral home owner said on Tuesday.

After more than two hours of viewing the body of slain Baton Rouge police officer Montrell Jackson, during a solemn, slow procession past his coffin Monday (July 25), the standing room-only crowd rose to its collective feet.

The last of the three Louisiana law enforcement officers killed in an ambush near a busy highway in Baton Rouge will soon be buried.

Furthermore, individual GoFundMe accounts have been set up to directly support the families of Officer Montrell Jackson, Officer Matthew Gerald and Sheriff’s Deputy Brad Garafola.

The memorial service will be held at Healing Place Church, where a funeral was held last Friday for Baton Rouge police officer Matthew Gerald. Hed been at the two other officers funerals as well.

His flag-draped casket bore the Superman logo, a nod to his wife’s description of Jackson as “her Superman”.

Just days before he was shot and killed, Jackson posted an emotional Facebook message saying he was “physically and emotionally” exhausted and expressing how hard it was to be both a police officer and a black man.

“I swear to God I love this city but I wonder if this city loves me.

Relatives described Jackson as a “gentle giant”.

Michael Fendrick, a sheriffs deputy from Dakota County, Minnesota, was among those who traveled as part of an honor guard team.

In the Facebook posting, Jackson said while in uniform he gets nasty looks; out of uniform, he wrote, some consider him a threat. He says the money was raised just in one day and they were completely humbled by the love and support from the community.

Jeffery Kelley, 49, didn’t know Jackson, but traveled to the church after his overnight work shift ended Monday morning to pay his respects at the visitation.

“We’ll miss you”, he said.

“He was protecting us as well as his co-workers.

“My heart goes out to all the victims”, Kincaid said.

Five police officers were gunned down July 7 in Dallas at the end of what had been a peaceful Black Lives Matter-organized protest. A multiagency public memorial service for all three officers is planned for Thursday.