LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville and the rest of the world said goodbye to The Greatest on Friday, showering affection on Muhammad Ali during a fist-pumping funeral procession through the streets of his hometown, followed by a star-studded memorial service where he was eulogized as a wildly charismatic breaker of racial barriers.
"He was a tremendous bolt of lightning, created by Mother Nature out of thin air, a fantastic combination of power and beauty," comedian Billy Crystal said in an address that had the crowd of about 15,000 laughing at nearly every turn.
The phone has been ringing off the hook at Judge Aaron Persky's chambers at the Santa Clara County court for the past several days. "Tell your judge he can go to hell, and I hope his kids get raped and he rots in hell," said one caller. The judge and members of his family have received death threats — which seems to be the way America rolls these days. Just a suggestion: If you disapprove of something strongly, consider the words "shame," "scandal" or "debacle." Try not to commit a crime yourself in protesting a lenient sentence.
Judge Persky sparked outrage when he sentenced a former Stanford student, Brock Turner, to six months in county jail, registration as a sex offender, and three years probation after Turner was found guilty of three felonies: assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated woman; sexual penetration with a foreign object of an intoxicated person; and sexual penetration with a foreign object of an unconscious person. It was a light sentence.
