Military Flyover Sparks Martin Luther King Day Protest in Texas
SAN ANTONIO
A flyover by Air Force jets during this city’s Martin Luther King Day celebration last week sparked a protest by Iraq war opponents who said the military presence ran counter to the teachings of the late civil rights leader.
The San Antonio commemoration — a three-mile march followed by festivities at a city park — attracts tens of thousands of participants each year, making it one of the nation’s largest King Day events.
The holiday was also marked with gatherings in other Texas cities.
The anti-war group in San Antonio, numbering perhaps two dozen, chanted “Shame” while two Air Force T-1A Jayhawk training jets flew overhead, a first in the event’s 20-year history. Later protesters released a pair of white doves.
Members of the group, who were mostly White, also sang protest songs that drowned out speeches from the podium lauding King and his legacy.
