
Gospel Changes the Life of Former Inmate and Black Panther Affiliate
The following article was written by Jason F. Wright for Deseret News.ย
John Johnson held a gun to the sleeping officerโs head.
His finger tickled the trigger.
Johnson had been searching for this manโs car. Heโd hunted him. Heโd craved the opportunity to shoot point blank and serve justice. In Johnsonโs eyes, the officer, also a black man, was the worst kind of enemy in racially charged 1984 Louisiana. The officer was a powerful figure with a reputation for beating up other black men and enjoying it.
As the officer slept in his cruiser, Johnson breathed deep and prepared to end the bullyโs life. He heard a voice cheering him on. โShoot, shoot, shoot,โ it said. โKill him.โ
Instantly, the atmosphere around him changed. Even now, three decades after that pivotal scene, he struggles to describe the moment. He wasnโt afraid because he didnโt recognize the voice; he was frightened because heย did.
โI knew the voice,โ Johnson told me during a recent telephone interview. โAnd I realized then that I had developed a personal relationship with the adversary.โ
Read Wright’s full article at DeseretNews.com.ย