March organized for justice in camp beating

Florida A&M University students, along with students from Florida State University and Tallahassee Community College, will come together Friday to rally for justice for the death of Martin Lee Anderson.

The 14-year-old died Jan. 6 at a Bay County Department of Juvenile Justice boot camp after suffering from repeated blows and kicks from boot camp officers. The entire incident was caught on surveillance cameras located on the outside of the boot camp facility.

The rally will begin at 9 a.m., where students from all of the campuses will meet at the Donald L. Tucker Center will march to the Capitol for the rally.

The protest and rally are expected to last until noon.

Legislators and lawyers from around the state of Florida have come together to raise awareness regarding this issue. The Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and members from Parks & Crump, the law firm representing the family, are among those scheduled to speak at the rally.

Other prominent figures expected to attend include Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, former TLC member, and Afeni Shakur, mother of slain rapper Tupac Shakur.

The rally was planned by students from all three participating schools.

“(FAMU) has been working hard with Florida State and TCC to

ensure that we have an effective rally,” said Philip Agnew, student body vice president. “All of our campus leaders have come together to make this work.”

Agnew, along with the other campus leaders, met during the past two weeks to finalize plans for Friday’s event. The most important thing Agnew stresses is to show support for the cause. “Many people believe that there is no point of marching,

but they have to remember that marching got us where we are today,” he said.

Joshua Moore, 21, a senior biology student from Miami, said, “Society too often focuses on individual events, rather than what the fight is really about.” Moore said the issue is more than skin deep. “This is a movement for justice, not about race. We need to let (the government) know that we are not going to stop until justice is served.”

Moore is urging people to come out and support the rally in any way possible. “We have tables set up at TCC, FAMU, and FSU about the march on Friday. Just stop by a table and fill out a pledge card. You can help volunteer by donating your time to this magnificent cause; we are accepting monetary donations as well.”

Volunteers will be carrying signs and banners, and passing out informational pamphlets to those who attend the rally.

“The key goal is to send a powerful message to the government,” Agnew said. “We want to show (the government) that a great majority of students and citizens are opposed to what the government is doing in regards to this situation.”

In the past four years, five boys have died because of internal complications after being enrolled in these camps. Three of these young men were black, and two were white. “The government is the perpetrators of this crime. They are the ones that are obstructing justice. We are here to let them know that this will not be tolerated,” Agnew said.

Anderson entered the Bay County juvenile boot camp Jan. 5. A couple of hours after his arrival he was sent away in an ambulance. The first autopsy report on Anderson performed by Charles Seibert, a medical examiner, showed that Anderson died of a complication of a sickle cell anemia trait.

A second autopsy revealed there was no way that Anderson could have died from natural causes related to a sickle cell trait.

ensure that we have an effective rally,” said Philip Agnew, student body vice president. “All of our campus leaders have come together to make this work.”

Agnew, along with the other campus leaders, met during the past two weeks to finalize plans for Friday’s event. The most important thing Agnew stressed was support for the cause. “Many people believe that there is no point of marching, but they have to remember that marching got us where we are today,” he said.

Joshua Moore, 21, a senior biology student from Miami, said, “Society too often focuses on individual events, rather than what the fight is really about.” Moore said the issue is more than skin deep. “We need to let (the government) know that we are not going to stop until justice is served.”

Moore is urging people to come out and support the rally in any way possible. “We have tables set up at TCC, FAMU and FSU about the march on Friday. You can help volunteer by donating your time to this magnificent cause; we are accepting monetary donations as well,” he said.

Volunteers will be carrying signs and banners, and passing out informational pamphlets to those who attend the rally.

“We want to show (the government) that a great majority of students and citizens are opposed to what the government is doing in regards to this situation,” Agnew said.

In the past four years, five boys have died because of internal complications after being enrolled in these camps. “The government is the perpetrators of this crime. They are the ones that are obstructing justice. We are here to let them know that this will not be tolerated,” Agnew said.

Anderson entered the Bay County juvenile boot camp Jan. 5. A couple of hours after his arrival he was sent away in an ambulance. The first autopsy report on Anderson performed by Charles Seibert, a medical examiner, showed that Anderson died of a complication of a sickle cell anemia trait.

A second autopsy revealed there was no way that Anderson could have died from natural causes related to a sickle cell trait.

Contact Herneshia Spurlock at famuannews@hotmail.com