Groveland Four, The Black Men Pardoned After 1949 Rɑρᴇ Accusation, Honored With Memorial
  • Cops News
  • Police Violence
  • First Amendment Police Audit
  • Cops Failed
  • Police Corruption
  • Cops Get Arrested
Wednesday, February 8, 2023
  • Login
First Amendment Audit
  • Cops News
  • Police Violence
  • First Amendment Police Audit
  • Cops Failed
  • Police Corruption
  • Cops Get Arrested
No Result
View All Result
  • Cops News
  • Police Violence
  • First Amendment Police Audit
  • Cops Failed
  • Police Corruption
  • Cops Get Arrested
No Result
View All Result
First Amendment Audit
No Result
View All Result

Groveland Four, The Black Men Pardoned After 1949 Rɑρᴇ Accusation, Honored With Memorial

The 70-year-old case against Charles Greenlee, Walter Irvin, Samuel Shepherd and Earnest Thomas has remained a disturbing example of гɑᴄɪɑʟ injustice from the Jim Crow-era.

The Teller by The Teller
August 19, 2022
in Cops False Arrest
0
0
SHARES
45
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Family members of the four young black men accused of гɑρɪпɡ a white woman in Florida 70 years ago gathered Friday for the unveiling of a memorial that lays bare the “gross injustices” they endured.

But amid the celebration, the families of those men — known as the Groveland Four — told the large crowd in attendance that the struggle to clear their names is far from over.

While Charles Greenlee, Walter Irvin, Samuel Shepherd and Earnest Thomas were posthumously pardoned of the crime last year by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the four have not been exonerated.

“It’s hard to put into words and have you understand the pain and hardships this injustice has caused this family for 70 years,” Gerald Threat, a nephew of Irvin’s, said at the unveiling. Irvin ԀɪᴇԀ in 1969, a year after he was released on parole.

“The only thing that can rectify this injustice is a full exoneration by the state,” Threat added. “We cannot pick and choose what we allow. It’s all or nothing.”

The pardon forgave the men for the ᴄгɪᴍᴇ, but an exoneration would declare that they did not commit the гɑρᴇ against the victim, a then-17-year-old named Norma Padgett, who was living in the community of Groveland. Now in her 80s, Padgett appeared before the clemency board in January 2019 to ask them to not pardon the men.On Friday, with DeSantis in attendance, other family members of the men also urged for an exoneration.

“I think we haven’t reached the end of the road, but we have come a long way,” said Carol Greenlee, the daughter of Charles Greenlee, who was 16 and the youngest of the suspects when an all-white jury sentenced him to life in prison.

“Give me hope that we will make that final push for exoneration,” she added.

State Rep. Geraldine Thompson, a Democrat, and other supporters at the dedication said they will continue fighting to clear the men’s names.

Thompson has previously said that DeSantis, a Republican who assumed office more than a year ago, was made aware of the exoneration request. The state constitution, however, doesn’t give the governor or the clemency board the power to exonerate someone.

Typically, it takes a court to overturn a conviction and for prosecutors to drop the charges, which would then effectively exonerate the person.The Groveland Four case has been made more complicated because it is now several decades old and the defendants have all ԀɪᴇԀ. Thompson said in December she would instead push for a joint House-Senate resolution that would recognize the men as being exonerated.

During Friday’s event, DeSantis called the conviction of the four a “miscarriage of justice” and that a pardon “brought justice to the historical record.”

Since 1989, Florida has seen 79 exonerations, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.

The case against Greenlee, Irvin, Shepherd and Thomas has continued to reverberate as a disturbing example of гɑᴄɪɑʟ injustice from the Jim Crow-era.

In the summer of 1949, Padgett and her husband, Willie Padgett, were driving home from a dance when their car broke down, she told police. Padgett said two of the men stopped to help them before they were joined by two others who ɑттɑᴄᴋᴇԀ her husband and гɑρᴇԀ her.

The authorities arrested Greenlee, Irvin and Shepherd. Thomas was ᴋɪʟʟᴇԀ by a mob led by Lake County Sheriff Willis McCall, and the ᴄгɪᴍᴇ sparked a wave of ᴠɪᴏʟᴇпᴄᴇ against black residents of Groveland that required the attention of the National Guard.

Greenlee, Irvin and Shepherd were beaten during their time in custody.

The NAACP’s Thurgood Marshall had helped Irvin and Shepherd win retrials in the case after appealing the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1951, while Irvin and Shepherd were being transported, McCall ѕһᴏт the men, claiming they tried to escape. Shepherd, a World War II veteran, ԀɪᴇԀ, but Irvin survived and was convicted even though an FBI agent testified that prosecutors manufactured evidence against the men.

Irvin, also a World War II veteran, received the Ԁᴇɑтһ ρᴇпɑʟтʏ. His sentence was later commuted to life in prison, and he was eventually paroled in 1968.

Greenlee was paroled in 1962, and ԀɪᴇԀ in 2012.

In 1972, McCall was indicted for ᴍᴜгԀᴇг in a separate case involving a black prisoner but was acquitted by an all-white jury.

Two books — “Legal Lynching: The Sad Saga of the Groveland Four,” published in 2004, and “Devil in the Grove,” which won the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction in 2013 — analyzed how the case was handled and cast doubt on the guilt of the Groveland Four and Padgett’s version of events.

Padgett has not retracted the story and told the clemency board “not to give the pardons because they did it.”

Gary Corsair, the author of “Legal Lynching,” applauded the actions to recognize the men. He said Friday during the memorial’s unveiling that it is a “rare thing for a community to look at itself and say our predecessors did wrong and we want to make it right.”

Watch the video below:

Related Posts

Cops False Arrest

California Deputy who Falsely Accused NBA Executive has Prior FгɑᴜԀ Conviction

August 31, 2022
Cops False Arrest

Maryland Cops Drag Passenger Out Of Car After Not Identifying Himself

August 29, 2022
Cops False Arrest

Indiana Deputies Arrest Wrong Man In Mistaken Identity On “Anonymous Tip”

August 29, 2022
Cops False Arrest

Police Chief Fired For Arresting Man Recording in Live Streamed Video

August 27, 2022
Cops False Arrest

Black Father Wrongfully Detained By Police In Front Of Family Calls Treatment ‘Dᴇһᴜᴍɑпɪzɪпɡ’

August 27, 2022
Cops False Arrest

Oklahoma Cop Threatens To Arrest Woman For Wearing Shorts “Too Short” In Amusement Park

August 25, 2022

Trending Posts

  • ‘THEY’RE STARTING TO EMERGE’: What You Need To Know About Australia’s Snake Season

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Discover the Largest Anaconda Ever (A 33 Foot Monster?)

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • King Cobra Is Found Slithering Inside A House In Malaysia

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • What is the Biggest Snake in the World?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Massive King Cobra Pulled Out Of Drain In Krabi, Thailand

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Recent Posts

IT HAPPENED ! – PHOTO OF MYSTERIOUS ALIEN “ORGANISM” AND THE FIRST OFFICIAL PROOF THAT ALIENS EXIST

February 6, 2023

ALIENS MAY DESTROY CURRENT CIVILIZATION TO PRESERVE EARTH FOR NEXT

February 6, 2023

FLYING HUMANOID CAPTURED IN THE SKY OVER GLASGOW, SCOTLAND (VIDEO)

February 6, 2023

NASA Own Photos Showing Mysterious Entrances To Underground Bases Located On Mars

February 3, 2023

NASA Curiosity Rover Spotted A Strange White UFO Hovering On Mars

February 3, 2023
  • Cops News
  • Police Violence
  • First Amendment Police Audit
  • Cops Failed
  • Police Corruption
  • Cops Get Arrested

© 2023 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Cops News
  • Police Violence
  • First Amendment Police Audit
  • Cops Failed
  • Police Corruption
  • Cops Get Arrested

© 2023 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In