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Cover-up exposed in teen’s boot camp death
By Larry Hales
Published May 11, 2006 9:12 PM
Leading a march in Tallahassee, Fla., are (from
left)
Rev. Al Sharpton; Gina Jones, mother of
Martin Lee Anderson; and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
 It
took four months for the state of Florida to verify what the family
of Martin Lee Anderson, 14, already knew—that the young African
American had died as a result of brutal treatment at the hands of
guards at a juvenile boot camp. The confirmation came by way of a
second autopsy performed by Dr. Venard Adams, Tampa Bay’s leading
medical examiner, after Bay County Medical Examiner Charles Siebert
had declared Anderson’s death was due to “natural causes.”
Anderson had arrived at the boot camp on Jan. 5 for a violation
of probation stemming from a joy ride he took in his grandmother’s
car. He had been there just a few hours before collapsing from
physical exer tion. Youth at the militaristic camp are forced to do
physical training, which includes running, push-ups and other
calisthenics characteristic of military training.
The guards at the camp, which is run by the Bay County sheriff’s
department, began beating the boy when he complained of shortness of
breath.
The beating was captured on video, though the tape was not
released until Feb. 17. The videotaped beating shows the thin young
man being pummeled by the stout guards. He is hit and kneed, all
while a nurse stands nearby. Ammonia capsules are held to his nose
at some point. It is clear that the young man goes limp. The guards’
response is to continue the beating and to drag his body. The
beating went on for at least 30-40 minutes.
Anderson died at a hospital just hours after arriving. He had
been at the Bay County boot camp for less than 24 hours.
Salt was heaped on the open wounds of Gina Jones and Robert
Anderson, the young man’s mother and father, when medical examiner
Siebert stated that he died of natural causes. Some would say that
for Siebert to have a medical degree is tragic comedy, since he
stated that Anderson died from sickle cell trait, which is generally
a benign condition. This effort to cover up the truth failed.
In rare circumstances, people with sickle cell trait can die.
Death can occur through physical exertion and high heat, but this is
extremely rare. And even if it had been the case here, then at the
very least severe criminal neglect and abuse would still have been
the cause of death because, after the young man complained of
shortness of breath, he was beaten and denied medical treatment.
Siebert virtually exonerated the guards and nurse of any
culpability when he released his Feb. 16 autopsy report. “This is a
valid, backed-by-science diagnosis,” Siebert stated. He also said,
“There was no trauma significant enough to contribute to or cause
his death.”
Siebert further said in his findings that the physical blows were
not responsible and that the guards and nurse were “mistaken” in not
getting Anderson medical treatment. He mentioned nothing faintly
resembling admonishment of the guards or nurse for the death of this
teenager.
Video sets off storm of action
The videotape was released a day after the autopsy report. Anyone
who saw the video could see the brutality and that Anderson went
limp as a result of the beating.
The video and report set in motion a storm of action, from the
parents as well as from Black communities in Florida and around the
country. Bay County responded not out of compassion, but from the
reaction that reverberated around the country.
Anderson’s body was exhumed on March 10. The family had always
demanded the truth and felt there was a cover-up. The family hired a
private doctor to observe the second autopsy.
Dr. Michael Braden, the private doctor, said that Anderson did
not die of natural causes.
Late in March it was revealed that Florida Department of Law
Enforcement Commissioner Guy Tunnell had been exchanging e-mails
with those he was supposed to be investigating. The emails were
“chummy,” revealing a back-scratching relationship that had up to
that point seemed to cover up Anderson’s killing.
Students in Florida put pressure on the state to take action.
National Black leaders converged on Florida to demand justice. The
state responded to the ever-growing din.
On May 5, the official second autopsy report was released. It
showed that Anderson had been suffocated by the guards. The second
autopsy revealed that the lethal amount of ammonia Anderson was made
to inhale caused the young man’s throat to seize. His mouth was
covered, while guards held the ammonia capsules under his nose.
The guards at the camp are now under investigation and all boot
camps in the state have been shut down. It is important to highlight
that it took over a month before the truth began to be revealed.
These kinds of incidents at the hands of racist cops are
commonplace in prisons and jails and on the streets. Cops and the
prison-industrial complex are just weapons of the capitalist class.
In fact, these representations of the state are not much different
from the CIA prisons at Guantanamo or Abu Ghraib.
People of color are aware of the above facts because the police
and prison system are used more often against oppressed communities,
which have the most to gain by decisive action against state
repression. As the family, the community and supporters demand
justice for the killing of Martin Lee Anderson, the measures that
led to his death must be further scrutinized and an analysis made as
to why this beating and killing of a young man was not merely an
exception.
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