Tag Archives: murder

Reopen the KJ investigation

I agree with the pathologist who did the second autopsy and found new evidence, Dr. William Anderson:

“My recommendation is to redo the investigation,” Anderson said Wednesday morning. “Open it back up and find out what happened.”

Jordan Conn wrote for Grantland yesterday, A Death in Valdosta,

Multisport athlete Kendrick Johnson was found dead in his Georgia high school’s gymnasium in January. Authorities ruled it an accident, but Johnson’s family believed something very different — and a second autopsy appears to support their suspicions.

I don’t always agree with Rev. Rose, but I still do on this one: the number of people colluding to cover up a thing like this would be most impressive.

However, the GBI is involved, and after the Quitman 10 are now several years without a “speedy” trial, GBI involvement taints the case. So with the new evidence let’s see a new investigation.

The Grantland story is confused about Continue reading

Human rights and American rights —JC Cunningham @ SCLC 2012 03 22

Excerpts:

It may have been a civil rights violation. But let’s talk about human rights violations. That young man was a human, and he deserved his human rights to be expected. And until we as a people — a people, black, white, Latino — come together and demand our human rights, this will continue to happen.

That young man didn’t deserve this because he was black. He didn’t deserve it because he was a human.

Here’s a playlist:


Human rights and American rights —JC Cunningham
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 March 2012.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

More excerpts:

But they didn’t even respect basic human rights basic American rights….

Ladies and gentlemen, we must write, we must continue to march, we must continue to speak, not amongst ourselves. Tonight I ask when you go home look to the right of you, to the left of you. I mean the houses to the right of you, the houses to the left of you. Ask them where they were tonight. Ask them what their thoughts are. What if it would have been their child. They would have been here. They would have been appalled if you were not here….

Don’t be afraid to talk to your white colleagues, don’t be afraid to talk to your hispanic colleagues. There’s nothing to be ashamed of to be out here and to demand, to demand your basic human rights.

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ALEC, Trayvon Martin, CCA’s private prisons, and charter schools?

What’s the connection between the Florida law that’s letting the killer of Trayvon Martin hide, the private prisons CCA runs in Georgia and other states, and HB 797, the Georgia charter schools bill that’s on the floor today for Senate debate today? ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council.

Paul Krugman wrote yesterday for the NYTimes, Lobbyists, Guns and Money,

ALEC seems, however, to have a special interest in privatization — that is, on turning the provision of public services, from schools to prisons, over to for-profit corporations. And some of the most prominent beneficiaries of privatization, such as the online education company K12 Inc. and the prison operator Corrections Corporation of America, are, not surprisingly, very much involved with the organization.

What this tells us, in turn, is that ALEC’s claim to stand for limited government and free markets is deeply misleading. To a large extent the organization seeks not limited government but privatized government, in which corporations get their profits from taxpayer dollars, dollars steered their way by friendly politicians. In short, ALEC isn’t so much about promoting free markets as it is about expanding crony capitalism.

And in case you were wondering, no, the kind of privatization ALEC promotes isn’t in the public interest; instead of success stories, what we’re getting is a series of scandals. Private charter schools, for example, appear to deliver a lot of profits but little in the way of educational achievement.

Same as private prisons. The only real benefit goes to private prison company executives and shareholders.
Think about that: we seem to be turning into a country where crony capitalism doesn’t just waste taxpayer money but warps criminal justice, in which growing incarceration reflects not the need to protect law-abiding citizens but the profits corporations can reap from a larger prison population.
Martin Luther King Jr. wrote from a Birmingham jail in 1963:
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
And today we have an organized threat to justice everywhere. That threat is called ALEC.

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The bird that could speak nine languages —Rev. Floyd Rose @ SCLC 2012 03 22

A man sent a bird to his mother as a gift….

Here’s the video:


The bird that could speak nine languages —Rev. Floyd Rose
Sanford Florida where 17 year Trayvon was murdered, and the killer has not been arrested,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 March 2012.
Video by George Boston Rhynes for bostongbr on YouTube.

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Hoodies and skittles suspicious? WCTV @ SCLC 2012 03 22

That’s WCTV reporter Greg Gullberg leaning over in the picture on the right. Here’s his report Friday, Protesters Rally For Trayvon Martin At Valdosta’s Old Courthouse,

Several protesters wore hooded sweat shirts, held boxes of Skittles and cans of iced tea. They asked if those items made them appear suspicious as well.

More excerpts:

“That this community and every community in this country will continue to press for Mr. Zimmerman’s arrest and conviction,” Rev. Rose told Gullberg.

The news that Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee temporarily stepped down sparked new life into the rally.

“We all know that he botched the investigation. He did not even arrest Mr. Zimmerman, which would have been standard practice,” said Rev. Rose.

“I think the story is still kind of broad right now, people want to know what’s happened. So I’m actually happy about the crowd that came out today,” Valdosta State University NAACP Chapter President DeAndre Jones told Gullberg.

LAKE videos of the rally.

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Rally “Justice for Trayvon Martin” @ SCLC 2012 03 22

Videos of the rally on the courthouse steps Thursday.

Please join me and SCLC at the Courthouse in Valdsota at 6:30 for a “Justice for Trayvon Martin” rally Thursday, March 22nd. Thousands of people all over the United States will be gathering, including thiousands in Sanford Florida where 17 year Trayvon was murdered, and the killer has not been arrested.

Come let your voice be heard: 6:30 Thursday, March 22nd.

Floyd Rose, President

Here’s a playlist:


Rally “Justice for Trayvon Martin”
Floyd Rose, Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 March 2012.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

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