Kelly Jones reflects on staging the Ali funeral 10 years ago

About this episode

Kelly Jones discusses the challenges and experiences of staging Muhammad Ali's funeral in Louisville.

Kelly Jones, deputy director of Louisville Metro Emergency Services, reflects on the enormous task of staging Muhammad Ali's funeral, watched by millions of people worldwide. Mr. Jones discusses the overwhelming and ever-changing plans to properly and respectfully honor Muhammad Ali as his hearse moved through the city ahead of burial at Cave Hill Cemetery. Tens of thousands of people lined the streets, essentially assisting the city by impeding traffic that could otherwise break protocol. Kelly Jones also had to deal with mulitiple representatives of foreign governments and their security agencies to assure that all visitors were protected. There were no homicides in the Louisville area for at least four days, a sadly remarkable statictic in a city that finally found peace, albeit for less than a week.

People in this episode

Guest: Kelly Jones

Topics covered

• Muhammad Ali
• funeral planning
• emergency services
• public safety
• city events

Keywords

• Muhammad Ali
• funeral
• Louisville
• emergency services
• public safety
• traffic management
• foreign governments

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Louisville Metro Emergency Services

Places: Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville

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