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Protesters march against verdict in
teen's boot camp death
December 2, 2007
By Stephen D. Price
PANAMA CITY — After laying a
bouquet of red and white carnations at the grave of Martin Lee
Anderson on Saturday morning, about a hundred protesters marched
from the cemetery to the Bay County Juvenile Justice Courthouse
where, in October, eight defendants were found not guilty in the
teen's death.
The mile march brought fewer
participants than many had hoped for. Still, marchers expected their
message to be heard.
"We just pray this is a turnaround
for juvenile justice," said Anderson's grandmother, Reta Williams.
"Not just for Martin, but for all the black children."
The march capped a week of events
to protest the Oct. 12 verdicts, and was organized by the NAACP and
the Concerned Ministers & Citizens Coalition.
Seven former drill instructors and
a camp nurse were cleared of any wrongdoing in the death of
Anderson, a Panama City teen who died Jan. 6, 2006, after he was
struck, kneed and forced to breathe ammonia capsules at the
now-closed Bay County juvenile boot camp.
The case has been racially charged
because Anderson was black while five defendants were white, two
black and one Asian. The trial was decided by an all-white jury and
sparked protests in Tallahassee. Federal authorities are
investigating the case for civil rights violations.
Many blamed the low turnout
Saturday on fear.
"People are afraid they'll lose
their jobs," said marcher Rev. Darryl Stanley. "We have a problem
calling people to stand up, get involved."
Marchers weren't shy showing their
anger, chanting "Fired up! Ready to go!" and showing their
dissatisfaction with State Attorney Steve Meadows by yelling "Ain't
gonna let Steve Meadows turn me around!"
Meadows re-hired Bay County Medical
Examiner Charles Siebert after the Florida Medical Examiners
Commission fired him following an investigation into his work.
Siebert performed the first autopsy on Anderson, and said the
14-year-old died from sickle-cell trait, a normally benign blood
disorder. A second autopsy said the boy was suffocated by drill
instructors who clamped his mouth shut and held ammonia capsules to
his nose for several minutes.
"It was the two black guards that
got him killed," said Charles Steele Jr., president of the national
Southern Conference Leadership Council, who spoke at the rally at
the courthouse parking lot. "They could've stopped it."
Gina Jones, Anderson's mother, said
protesting can be tiring, but "you got to keep fighting for
justice."
Dale Landry, a state NAACP officer,
assured the crowd federal authorities will take action.
"We're looking forward to y'all
coming to the trial because there will be indictments."
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