Analysis Of The Groveland Four Case

This article talks about the State of Florida and the formal apology released by the Senate apologizing to the families of four black men for the “racial hatred” and “’gross injustices’”(Fortin, n.pag) they faced during a rape trial back in the 1950’s prior to when the civil rights movement began. The article details how the “so-called Groveland Four,” which consisted of Charles Greenlee, Ernest Thomas, Walter Irvin, and Samuel Shepherd, were accused of raping a 17-year-old white woman in Florida and how they were all prosecuted. The article states how all four of these men were treated during this trial; Mr. Thomas was chased down by a “posse of 1,000 men,” (Fortin, n.pag) and killed, the other three were arrested and beaten in custody, and

The common denominator we see between these present day cases and the Groveland Four Case is this on-going issue of racial profiling and police brutality. The Groveland Four, with the exception of Ernest Thomas, were arrested and then subject to assault by the very police who were supposed to uphold the law. This police brutality led to their coerced confessions which convicted them in front of an all-white jury. Samuel Shepherd and Walter Irvin, who were on their way to the retrial, personally driven by Sheriff Willis V. McCall, the same Sheriff who had originally arrested these men and participated in their assault. Along the way, the Sheriff claimed that the defendants had tried to grab his gun, and he shot them in self-defense. Mr. Irvin survived and would recollect how “after the sheriff shot him twice, another official, Deputy Sheriff James L. Yates, shot him again in the neck.”(Fortin, n.pag) His testimony would not uphold in court, and he was sent to jail. He died a year after his parole in

These officers subjected these victims to racial profiling and police brutality. Although not a police officer, George Zimmerman, a white neighborhood watchman, profiled the unarmed black Trayvon Martin and followed him because he saw “a suspicious person” in the neighborhood. In Zimmerman’s statement to the police he claimed that Trayvon assaulted him and also reached for his gun. Sandra Bland, an African-American, was driving through Texas where she had just moved to start a new job. She was stopped for a traffic violation when she was arrested. According to Officer Brian Encinia, Bland had been uncooperative and tried to assault the officer. She was found hanged in her cell three days later. Evidence has come to light to prove that Bland was beaten in custody, which according to Officer Encinia is because she tried to hit him while she was handcuffed. The question still remains; did she commit suicide? The officer in question claimed self-defense but was still indicted of perjury as he falsified his statement about the event and also for not following departmental protocol. Another innocent, unarmed victim killed in the hands of the police. Eric Garner is also an example of racial profiling and police brutality. Garner, a black male, had been stopped a couple times, previous to his death, for selling untaxed cigarettes. This time