Luther King Institute 'pleased' with movements using 'nonviolent resistance'

Director of center 'disturbed' whenever protesters are 'suppressed or punished by police,' says talking about Catalan independence movement

Voters in front of Spanish police (by Carles Palacio)
Voters in front of Spanish police (by Carles Palacio) / ACN

ACN | Barcelona

September 15, 2018 10:58 AM

The director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute, Clayborne Carson, has said he is "pleased when any movement chooses to use the kind of nonviolent tactics and strategies that King advocated."

In comments to the Catalan News Agency (ACN) and shared in the social media and talking about the Catalan movement, he said it is "admirable" that a cause uses the idea of "nonviolent resistance to injustice."

He also denied some Spanish media reports recently stating that he believes the black American activist would have opposed the independence of Catalonia.

"This distorts what I actually said in response to a Spanish reporter’s questions about whether proponents of Catalan independence were justified in using King's name to support their struggle," he said.