Hugh King

Rev. Hugh King

The Reverend Hugh G. King, Sr. is an African American community leader, former Pensacola City Councilman and pastor of the Greater Union Baptist Church. He was arrested on April 28, 2007 for cocaine possession, for which the church has suspended him as pastor indefinitely. As a nonviolent first offender, he is expected to avoid trial by entering a pretrial intervention program.

Political & Spiritual Career

King entered the political arena as president of the local Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He joined Movement for Change founder LeRoy Boyd in efforts to name a city street after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

King was elected to the Pensacola City Council in 1999. On January 14, 2000 King and the City Council voted to rename a portion of Alcaniz Street (north of Cervantes Street, through the Eastside neighborhood) Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

He was installed as the fifteenth pastor of Greater Union Baptist Church in the spring of 2004 following the death of his father, Reverend A. J. King, Sr., on October 9, 2003. Citing the primacy of his church position, King announced he would not seek reelection to the Pensacola City Council. Jewel Cannada-Wynn replaced him in the 2004 election.

King played a major role in generating support for the Community Maritime Park project and was appointed to the Community Maritime Park Associates Board of Trustees. He oversaw the formation of the Contractor Academy that was established as part of the CMPA's "Covenant with the Community" to help minority contractors compete for government jobs.

Controversies

Front Porch

When Front Porch Pensacola community liaison Thelma Manley came under fire in early 2007 for alleged mismanagement of organization funds, Rev. King, a member of the Front Porch Council, came to her defense. King hosted a March 20 press conference at his church, where he defended Manley of the allegations and accused Council members Michelle MacNeil and Melanie Nichols of racism.

Mugshot of Rev. King following his April 28, 2007 arrest

Cocaine Possession

In the early morning hours of April 28, 2007 Rev. King was arrested by police officers who were responding to a burglary call at North D Street. The police stopped Mark Anthony Cotton and King, his passenger, several blocks away from the crime at A and Blount Streets. They were driving a light-green Ford Explorer similar in build to the gray Chevrolet Blazer described by witnesses as leaving the burglary. After an officer observed a knife covered in white powder residue on the vehicle's center console, Cotton and King were searched. A bag of cocaine, valued at around $25, was found in King's back pocket. Later reports stated that less than a gram of cocaine was found on King.

In May, Greater Union Baptist Church suspended King as pastor indefinitely.

King entered a written waiver of not guilty on one charge of cocaine possession on May 17 and requested a jury trial. Attorney Barry Baroset later asked Circuit Judge Joel Boles to suppress the evidence against his client, arguing that Officers Charles Decker and Matthew Coverdale illegally stopped and searched Cotton's vehicle, which he said did not closely match the Chevrolet Blazer described by robbery witnesses. Boles denied the request.

Circuit Judge Nick Geeker placed King in a pretrial intervention program on November 1. Typically, nonviolent first-time offenders are allowed to avoid trial if they admit to the crime, attend counseling and submit to random urinalysis.