Crime & Justice
Jacksonville, FL To Have “Standing Our Ground Week” for Marissa Alexander
Hundreds of activists will come together in Jacksonville, FL from Friday, July 25 through Friday, August 1 to support Marissa Alexander.
Activist have come together for a “Standing Our Ground Week” for Marissa Alexander.
Hundreds of regional and national activists will come together in Jacksonville, Florida from Friday, July 25 through Friday, August 1 to support embattled domestic violence survivor Marissa Alexander, build awareness about domestic violence and reproductive justice, and strengthen opposition to mandatory minimum sentencing.
“STANDING OUR GROUND Against Reproductive Oppression, Gender Violence, and Mass Incarceration” is envisioned by organizers as a celebration, an exercise of civil rights, and a call for human dignity. The date marks the one year anniversary of the verdict exonerating George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin and connects to the August 1 hearing where Alexander will argue for Stand Your Ground protection. Participants are linking the call to free Marissa Alexander with Florida-based movements for justice for Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis and others.
Standing Our Ground Week
The Standing Our Ground week will feature noted speakers, educational panels, workshops, cultural events, and community outreach. An opening ceremony will launch the activities on Friday, July 25. On Friday and Saturday, the national SisterSong Reproductive Justice Institute will hold panels and training workshops. Saturday will also feature a Youth Assembly. Sunday is highlighted by a benefit concert for the Marissa Alexander Legal Defense Fund. On Monday, there will be a march from the SisterSong conference to the Duval County Courthouse. Tuesday will feature a keynote discussion by University of Illinois Professor Beth Richie, author of *Arrested Justice: Black Women, Violence and America’s Prison Nation,* followed by a panel of local and national feminists and leaders in the movement for women’s safety. Wednesday will take on the issues of police brutality and wrongful imprisonment with a panel of speakers organizing on these issues. On Thursday, legal experts will conduct community training to inform people about their rights under the law. The day will end with a candlelight vigil. Throughout the week, activists will also take part in a People’s Investigation where they will bring their concerns and questions to organizations and institutions of power on the local, state and national level. Times and locations are being finalized.
On Friday, August 1, participants will attend a hearing on whether Marissa Alexander can argue for immunity from prosecution under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law. In 2010, Ms. Alexander fired a warning shot to stop a life-threatening attack by her estranged husband. She caused no injuries, but was found guilty of aggravated assault and served 33 months of a mandatory 20-year sentence before a Florida appeals court overturned the
guilty verdict. State Prosecutor Angela Corey has chosen to re-prosecute Alexander, this time threatening a mandatory 60-year sentence if Alexander is found guilty in the new trial currently scheduled to begin December 8.
Local and national leaders of the Free Marissa Now mobilization campaign are partnering with New Jim Crow Movement – Jacksonville, SisterSong, INCITE!, African American/Black Women’s Cultural Alliance, Radical Women, Project South, Resist, Highlander Research Center, and National Congress of Black Women to organize the week of events. National supporters of Marissa Alexander in other cities will also take action during the week to build awareness about ending domestic violence and mass incarceration, and supporting all women’s right to self-defense. Participants will take part through daily live-streaming of Jacksonville events and through Facebook and Twitter updates, and a Selfies for Self-Defense campaign.
Marissa Alexander was sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot to stop an attack by her abusive husband.
Her case has frequently been compared to that of George Zimmerman, who was found not guilty on grounds of self-defense for the killing of Trayvon Martin, while Alexander was denied Stand Your Ground protection and sentenced to 20 years although no one was injured by her action.
Through an appeal, her verdict was subsequently overturned and she was granted a new trial.
Crime & Justice
Paramedic involved in Elijah McClain’s death sentenced to probation, work release and community service
Jeremy Cooper, a former paramedic who injected Elijah McClain with a fatal dose of ketamine, has been sentenced to probation and community service.
Jeremy Cooper, a former paramedic who injected Elijah McClain with a fatal dose of ketamine, has been sentenced to probation and community service.
Paramedic Jeremy Cooper sentenced
He had faced up to three years in prison but was sentenced to four years probation, 14 months of work release and 100 hours of community service.
Cooper and another paramedic, Peter Cichuniec, were found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in December in the death of McClain, 23, who was subdued by police and injected with ketamine on August 24, 2019.
Both paramedics had pleaded not guilty to the felony charges. Cichuniec was sentenced in March to five years in prison, the minimum.
Police stop turns fatal
McClain was walking home in August 2019 when the 23-year-old Black man was confronted by police officers who forcibly restrained him. When Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec arrived, they injected him with ketamine.
He went into cardiac arrest in an ambulance a few minutes later and died three days after that.
The McClain family sued the city of Aurora for Elijah’s wrongful death and received a $15 million settlement.
Crime & Justice
Honor student killed by stray bullet while visiting Delaware State University
A shooting at Delaware State University has claimed the life of 18-year-old honor student Camay Mitchell De Silva.
Camay Mitchell De Silva, of Wilmington, Delaware, was shot and killed Sunday, on the Delaware State University campus.
The 18-year-old was visiting her best friend, a Delaware State student, when the tragic shooting occurred.
She was an honor student
De Silva was a 2023 graduate of Concord High School who graduated with a 3.0. She spent her first semester of college at Morgan State University in Baltimore but decided she wanted to come home to Delaware.
She then attended Delaware Technical Community College and planned to attend DSU in the fall to pursue a degree in Computer Science, with the goal of working in cybersecurity.
De Silva often hung out on campus with her best friend to get comfortable before attending DSU.
Delaware State shooting
The family said De Silva was visiting that friend at DSU on Saturday, April 20, and attended a party on campus that night. Around 1:40 a.m. on April 21, DSU Police received a report of shots fired on campus. The responding officers found De Silva in a residence hall suffering from a gunshot wound to her upper body. The officers administered aid and then took her to a nearby hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries.
Police say De Silva was not the intended target. Dover Police Department Chief Thomas Johnson Jr. told NBC10 there was a dispute that she was not involved in and she was hit by a stray bullet.
The suspects were seen fleeing the area and no arrests have been made, said authorities.
Dover Police released a statement from De Silva’s family requesting time to grieve and to plan for her celebration of life.
They also said they pray for and support the DSU community, law enforcement and the local community as they are “forced to manage this tragedy.”
Delaware State shooting investigation
Dover Police are still pursuing leads in the fatal shooting of Camay Mitchell De Silva.
Anyone with information is asked to contact detectives at 302-736-7130 or reach out to Delaware Crime Stoppers at 800-TIP-3333.
Crime & Justice
Exonerated man on a mission to rebuild his life
C.J. Rice, a man who served more than 12 years behind bars for an attempted murder he was falsely convicted of, was officially exonerated on March 18, 2024. He is now on a mission to rebuild his life.
Charles “CJ” Rice was just 17 years old when he was convicted of a crime he did not commit.
CJ Rice Exonerated
Now 30 year old Rice is using the injustice of the last 13 years to galvanize the life he almost spent behind bars after being exonerated and declared legally innocent of the crime he was convicted of in 2013 on March 18, 2024.
According to the GoFundMe, CJ wants to “embrace this opportunity” and become a paralegal.
With the help of Dream.org, the GoFundMe aims to help CJ start a new life with everything from a place to stay to clothes to wear as he builds a new future.
The CJ Rice case
CJ Rice, formally known Charles J. Rice, was convicted in a September 2011 shooting for attempted murder and sentenced to 30-60 years behind bars in 2013.
According to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, the South Philadelphia shooting left a woman identified as Latrice Johnson, a 6-year-old girl and two others injured.
Johnson called 911 after the shooting and described the suspects as two men running away in hoodies and black sweatpants but couldn’t fully identify them.
Through an initial investigation with victims in the hospital, Rice’s co-defendant, Tyler Linder, was identified as one of the shooters. Detectives interviewed Johnson while she was in the hospital and she identified 17-year-old Rice as one of the shooters running away although she hadn’t seen the teen in a few years. Rice had been friends with Johnson’s son when he was younger, according to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project.
In her description, Johnson said Rice was wearing a hoodie and claimed that she was able to see his full face and long braids poking out the side of the hood. However, Rice’s arrest photo depicted him with shorter cornrows flushed against his head. Despite this, a case against Rice and Linder was built.
According to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, among the evidence was a theory that the shooting was retaliatory, which wasn’t proven. That’s because Rice was shot and injured a few days prior. It’s alleged the suspects ran from the scene, and Rice’s counsel never used his medical records as evidence to help Rice’s case.
Rice’s case received national attention after CNN anchor Jake Tapper began reporting on it. His father, Dr. Theodore Tapper, is Rice’s former doctor and treated his injuries.
Although it was alleged that the shooters ran from the 2011 crime scene, this is something that Dr. Tapper believed Rice just physically couldn’t do at the time.
Officials believed the 2011 shooting involved gang affiliations, leading the DA’s Gun Violence Task Force to begin their investigation to see whether or not Rice could be re-tried for the shooting or to dismiss the charges in full.
This suggestion of motive and the sole faulty eyewitness identification of CJ led to his conviction on four counts for attempted murder.
A free man
Rice’s defense counsel filed a habeas petition to get CJ out of prison and have his conviction overturned.
On March 18, 2024, the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas granted the Commonwealth’s motion to dismiss all charges against Rice, officially making CJ a free man.
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