Posted on 07/18/2016 6:54:33 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
Slain Baton Rouge Police Officer Montrell Jackson, holds his son Mason
Jocelyn Jackson was already sitting in church when she found herself needing God most. She hadn't yet learned that her younger brother Montrell Jackson was among the three officer killed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when her pastor asked the congregation to send prayers to her family.
"I didn't want to break down in church, but it was just something I couldn't hold," said Jackson, 49. "He was a wonderful person. A wonderful person."
Jocelyn Jackson said that she understands the anger behind the movement Black Lives Matter but that "God gives nobody the right to kill and take another person's life." Montrell Jackson, 32, had gotten married in the past few years and had a baby boy he adored, she said.
"It's coming to the point where no lives matter," she said, "whether you're black or white or Hispanic or whatever."
On a GoFundMe page set up for the fallen officer by a relative, he is described as a hero in a "time of uncertainty and imminent danger."
"Words cannot describe the devastation that we feel right now," reads the page. "Rest in Peace, Montrell, you will always be our Hero."
Virginia Tech quarterback Josh Jackson identified the officer as his cousin on Twitter, using a hashtag that many adopted Sunday: #PrayForBatonRouge
"Rest in peace to my cousin Montrell Jackson who was one of the policeman that was killed."
Jocelyn Jackson said that her brother, at 6-foot-3, towered over many, but that in her memories he will always be that little boy who was a picky eater. She said his siblings would tease him about how when he was about 9, he insisted on eating only Burger King Whoppers for dinner. Jackson said she was the one who would get him to eat other food.
Jackson said she never worried about her brother, who was "outgoing" and "kind," being on the force, not until recent tensions in Baton Rouge after officers fatally shot Alton Sterling earlier this month outside a convenience store.
Jackson said another brother had told the pastor about the death before she made it to church for an afternoon service. Afterward, she said, the weight of it "rushed" over her.
If she could talk to the shooter, or anyone considering violence against officers, she said she'd remind them of a judgment beyond the penal system.
"If I could say anything to anyone, it is to get their lives right with God," she said. "Hell is horrible, horrible place to be."
Just days before he was killed, Montrell Jackson posted an emotional Facebook message saying he was "physically and emotionally" tired and expressing how difficult it was to be both a police officer and a black man, a friend said Sunday. The post read:
"I'm tired physically and emotionally. Disappointed in some family, friends, and officers for some reckless comments but hey what's in your heart is in your heart. I still love you all because hate takes too much energy but I definitely won't be looking at you the same. Thank you to everyone that has reached out to me or my wife it was needed and much appreciated. I swear to God I love this city but I wonder if this city loves me. In uniform I get nasty hateful looks and out of uniform some consider me at threat. I've experienced so much in my short life and these last 3 days have tested me to the core. When people you know begin to question your integrity you realize they don't really know you at all. Look at my actions they speak LOUD and CLEAR. Finally I personally want to send prayers out to everyone directly affected by this tragedy. These are trying times. Please don't let hate infect your heart. This city MUST and WILL get better. I'm working in these streets so any protesters, officers, friends, family or whoever, if you see me and need a hug or want to say a prayer. I got you."
The post, which has since been removed from Jackson's page, ended with two emojis: a police officer and peace sign.
Kedrick Pitts, Jackson's younger half brother, said he was very close to his older brother.
"With him it was God, family and the police force," Pitts said outside his mother's house in Baton Rouge, where family was gathered Sunday. "He went above and beyond ... He was a protector."
He said his brother had been on the force for 10 years, having joined in 2006 and had risen to the rank of corporal.
Pitts said he woke up Sunday to find his mother crying as news broke about the shooting involving police. He drove his mother to the hospital and it was there that they discovered that Jackson had been shot. He said Jackson leaves behind a wife and a 4-month-old son named Mason.
Jackson and his family were planning to go to Houston soon for a vacation, Pitts said.
Pitts, stunned by his brother's death, put on a brave face and did not shed any tears. "I did all the crying I can do. It's not going to bring him back," he said.
Pitts described Jackson as a person with a humorous streak but a serious side. He said he was fond of shoes and had a collection of more than 500 pairs — such as special Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan shoes. He said his brother was a big fan of the New Orleans Pelicans and the Dallas Cowboys.
He called Jackson a hard-working police officer who often worked seven days a week.
His aunt, Octavia Lacey, a 55-year-old disabled woman in Baton Rouge, called Jackson an exceptional person.
"Never a problem (as a child,)" she recalled. "Good spirited child."
She expressed disbelief that her nephew was shot by someone who allegedly came from out of state. "I don't get it," she said.
In the rural Livingston Parish, family of Jackson's wife was also mourning their loss.
Lonnie Jordan, Jackson's father-in-law, spoke to reporters on the front lawn of Jackson's house. Jordan said he heard about Jackson's death while at church Sunday morning when he received a text message.
Jordan described his son-in-law as a "gentle giant" -- tall and stout and formidable looking, but with a peaceful disposition, saying he was "always about peace."
Jordan said his son-in-law had been working long hours since the death of Alton Sterling and the resulting protests. But Jordan said if the work was a strain, Jackson didn't let it show.
Associated Press contributed to this report
May the Lord free him from every trace of sin and sorrow, and make him glorious in His Kingdom.
God save us from the sociopaths in our midst.
God rest this man’s soul in peace.
With all due respect to the widow, this is the crap I'm getting sick of hearing. The 'anger' surrounds a completely false presumption of widespread racism in our police forces. Only one of the recent shootings by police is questionable (the ccw permit holder) and even that was not racially motivated.
Prayers for all those affected by terrorism both on the international level and now on the domestic level.
If you accept the slaughter of the unborn this is the rotten fruit.
The problem is people whose “value system” allows them to kill innocent people. One of the goals of communism is to eliminate any value system that is not the communist one. America’s democrats have been partially successful in reaching their goal.
Tears. How can these spoiled brat “activists” be so heartless.
Its the dem credo...my life matters but yours not so much. The same with guns, environment etc. We get the goods and you must abstain.
Burn Loot Murder
Amen.
“”With all due respect to the widow””
Sister....
Why would the officer’s message be taken down? It was a beautiful sentiment and obviously spoken from the heart. It should have been left alone!
Heart crushing. I can no longer hold back tears; they flow in volumes these days.
RIP Officer Jackson, And the same to the other two officers slain yesterday.
On the news on Sunday, there were many references to the irony of Jackson being a black police officer. It seemed surreal to me. As though Jackson’s death was more important and was somehow less horrifying than the deaths of the two white officers.
As for me ALL LIVES MATTER and I care not whether some liberals want to tag me as a bigot for saying so.
Officer Jackson seemed like a nice person, and to his family and the families of the other officers, my deepest sympathy and prayers.
Sorry, I misread. I thought it was his wife that made the statement. I have no idea why the FB post was taken down. Bizarre.
Jocelyn Jackson tells the truth!! and honors her slain brother Baton Rouge policeman Montrell Jackson. Killed by a useless pos...God Save America!
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Slain Baton Rouge officer: ‘I love this city but I wonder if this city …
The Christian Science Monitor · 17 minutes ago
Days before he was killed by a gunman, Baton Rouge police officer Montrell Jackson wrote an emotional post on Facebook expressing the
Heart-breaking. For all of these fine officers. May the Almighty reward them.
The suspect was simply a black racist. He shot the black cop because the cops was trying to kill him. The suspect hated all cops especially white cops and white folk. In fact in his videos he suggested he was a self assigned leader of “His people” because he had the guts to start killing the white oppressors.
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