Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Parents meet with Bush on boot camp death

By ALEX LEARY
Published April 20, 2006

TALLAHASSEE - More than three months after their son's death sparked a national call for justice, the parents of Martin Lee Anderson met with Gov. Jeb Bush on Thursday, receiving sympathy and assurance the investigation would be thorough and fair.

"He's getting on the right path," said Anderson's mother, Gina Jones. "Me, as a mom, he's seen how I feel."

The conciliatory tone was markedly different from recent weeks, when Jones and others sharply criticized officials for their handling of the case. Anderson, 14, died in early January after being roughed up by guards at the Bay County boot camp.

The governor made no promises when the inquiry would be complete, but signaled that he wanted answers soon in a letter to the special prosecutor, Hillsborough State Attorney Mark Ober.

"I am as anxious as everyone to learn what your investigation reveals about the nature and manner of Martin's death," Bush wrote.

Bush called for not only an "expeditious conclusion" but raised provocative questions about possible e-mail deleted by the former investigator in the case. He also asked why Anderson's body was moved from a Pensacola hospital back to Bay County for an autopsy.

Jones and Anderson's father, Robert Anderson, arrived at the Capitol shortly before 4:30 p.m., walking through student demonstrators who staged an overnight sit-in outside Bush's office.

As the couple met with Bush behind closed doors, the students reaffirmed calls for justice, including the arrest of the guards, and sang the civil rights anthem We Shall Overcome.

An hour and 10 minutes later, Jones and Mr. Anderson emerged with their lawyers, thanking the students and expressing measured confidence in the process.

"They're feeling encouraged, but they're still cautious," said attorney Ben Crump. "Gov. Bush has a lot of resources, a lot of power to push forward and make things happen sooner than later."

Crump described Bush as "apologetic" and said he encouraged them to have faith in the system.

The students from Tallahassee's three colleges disbanded their sit-in but only, they said, out of respect for the family. Gabriel Pendas, a senior at Florida State, lambasted Bush for not making a public apology or producing immediate results.

"When you look at Terri Schiavo and how far he went above and beyond the call of duty for this woman ... and he won't even make a public statement in this case?"

Bush's meeting with the parents was set up before the students took to his office, though Crump said their presence "made a world of difference."

While Bush has said the investigation needs to play out, his letter to Ober illustrated mounting public pressure for action - pressure that will only intensify this morning when a massive protest march is planned at the capital.

Bush urged Ober to look into e-mails that may have been deleted by Bay County State Attorney Steve Meadows amid the controversy. A spokesman for Meadows said Thursday the office does not believe public records were erased.

But others see it as further evidence of a coverup involving authorities in Bay County.

Anderson's parents have also raised suspicions why the body was taken back to Bay County for an autopsy, which concluded their son died of internal bleeding from sickle cell trait, not a beating.

[Last modified April 20, 2006, 23:22:02]