Izola Curry

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Izola Curry was a black American citizen who attempted to assassinate civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. She was born in Georgia. She stabbed King with a letter opener at a New York City book signing on September 20, 1958.

King was immediately taken by ambulance to Harlem Hospital, where, after a long delay, surgery began to remove the blade from its precarious position. "Days later," King writes in his posthumously published autobiography, "when I was well enough to talk with Dr. Hal Meadows, the chief of the surgeons who performed the delicate, dangerous operation, I learned the reason for the long delay that preceded surgery. He told me that the razor tip of the instrument had been touching my aorta and that my whole chest had to be opened to extract it. 'If you had sneezed during all those hours of waiting,' Dr. Maynard said, 'your aorta would have been punctured and you would have drowned in your own blood.'"^[1]

While still in the hospital, King demonstrated his characteristic calm and Christian charity in a September 30 release to reporters in which he reaffirms his belief in "the redemptive power of nonviolence" and issues a hopeful statement about his attacker. "I felt no ill will toward Mrs. Izola Currey [sic] and know that thoughtful people will do all in their power to see that she gets the help she apparently needs if she is to become a free and constructive member of society."^[2]

On October 17, minutes after hearing King's testimony, a grand jury indicted Mrs. Curry for attempted murder.^[3]

As a result of her indictment and subsequent hearings, she was adjudicated mentally unfit for trial and was committed to a psychiatric institution.^[4]

Statement Issued From Harlem Hospital

"I am sorry that I have not been able to accommodate the many newsmen who have expressed a desire to have some word from me earlier.

"First let me say that I feel no ill-will toward Mrs. Izola Curry and know that thoughtful people will do all in their power to see that she gets the help she apparently needs if she is to become a free and constructive member of society.

"To Dr. Aubre Maynard, his associates and the splendid hospital staff, I am unable to say enough in expressing my gratitude. To the Governor of New York State, Mr. Averell Harriman, and the many other officials, religious leaders and other organizational representatives, I want to offer special thanks. I also wish to express my heartfelt appreciation to the thousands of people of all faiths and races, in all walks of life, who have indicated by telegrams, letters, calls, cards, flowers and other gifts their warm concern for my well being. These messages were a great source of strength and support, because I know they were a token of respect for the Cause we all cherish--freedom and equality for all men.

"The pathetic aspect of this experience is not the injury to one individual. It demonstrates that a climate of hatred and bitterness so permeates areas of our nation that inevitably deeds of extreme violence must erupt. Today it is I. Tomorrow it could be another leader or any man, woman or child who will be the victim of lawlessness and brutality.

"I hope that this experience proves to be socially constructive by demonstrating the urgent necessity for non-violence to govern the affairs of men.

"Through these days, I have been increasingly able to understand more deeply the hard blows and tragic suffering so many of my people and other members of minority groups experience--all too often, and without cause or reason. The experience of these last few days has deepened my faith in the revelence of the spirit of non-violence, if necessary social change is peacefully to take place. Through experience I have now come to see more clearly the redemptive power of non-violence.

"I have been brought to see its wider social significance. I am now convinced that if the Negro holds fast to the spirit of non-violence, our struggle and example will challenge and help redeem, not only America but the world.

"Finally, although my thoughts have never left the Freedom struggle, I am intensely impatient to rejoin my friends and colleagues to continue the work that we all know must be done regardless of the cost."