Musician, 73, Assaulted After Tribute to Trayvon

Woman arrested after jumping on stage to shove Lester Chambers: cops
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 15, 2013 8:21 AM CDT
Musician, 73, Assaulted After Tribute to Trayvon
An image of Lester Chambers off Facebook.   (Facebook)

A 73-year-old black soul singer in California got roughed up Saturday by a woman in the audience who rushed the stage after he dedicated a song to Trayvon Martin, say police. Lester Chambers was talking about the George Zimmerman trial and about to play "People Get Ready" when a white woman leaped at him, shouting, "It's your fault," witnesses tell the San Jose Mercury News. Dinalynn Andrews Potter, 43, was arrested on suspicion of battery, and the Chambers family is pushing police to file hate-crime charges, too.

"She had a crazed look in her eye," says one of the musician's friends who rushed to help him. Chambers suffered a bruised rib and nerve damage and is "sore all over," according to a Facebook post by his son. "People Get Ready" is a Curtis Mayfield song written after MLK's march on Washington, and Chambers' old group, the Chambers Brothers, recorded a version in 1967, notes Firedog Lake. In his dedication to Trayvon, Chambers had said Mayfield would have written the line "there's a train comin'" as "there's a change comin'" had he penned it today. (More Trayvon Martin stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X