Civil Rights Giant Roy Innis Passes

Roy Innis [Photo courtesy National Rifle Association]

   Innis served as chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality for many years, and was described by the Washington Times as a “civil rights icon.” Friends and admirers recalled Innis as a loyal friend and champion of the right to keep and bear arms.

   Innis lost two sons to violence involving firearms, but instead of joining a chorus for ineffective gun control laws, he became a leading advocate in the African-American community for gun ownership and self-defense.

   Two incidents that set Innis apart from many of his contemporaries, and at face-to-face odds with one of them occurred on television. In one appearance on the Morton Downey program, Innis pushed Al Sharpton off his chair backwards and onto the stage.

   But he became famous for an on-air confrontation with some white supremacists during Geraldo Rivera’s program. In that incident, he struggled with one individual who called him an “Uncle Tom.” It was during that brawl that someone threw a chair that struck Rivera in the face, leaving him with a bloody nose.

   During his tenure on the NRA Board, Innis became known and admired for his energetic defense of gun rights, in public and during board meetings.