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Politics

NAACP to protest on Crist's first day

By JONI JAMES
Published December 23, 2006

TALLAHASSEE - The Florida NAACP plans to march at the state Capitol before Gov.-elect Charlie Crist's inauguration Jan. 2 to protest the handling of a boot camp death.

The protest plans have produced discord within the NAACP, because many African-American leaders support Crist's record on civil rights.

Martin Lee Anderson, 14, died Jan. 6 at a Panama City boot camp after being punched and kneed by guards. Last month, seven guards and a nurse were indicted in the case.

But NAACP leaders have complained that a special prosecutor - Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober - failed to indict Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen, who oversaw the boot camp, or the medical examiner, Charles Siebert, whose original autopsy was called into question.

"We do not want (Crist) to stay the course," said Charles Evans, president of the Tallahassee branch of the NAACP, who was among the state leaders who voted Sunday to proceed with the protest.

"We want him to start off correctly. We want to see action in regard to the (Bay County) sheriff and medical examiner," Evans said.

Florida NAACP president Adora Obi Nweze voiced those concerns Nov. 30 in letters faxed and later mailed to Crist and Gov. Jeb Bush, who appointed the special prosecutor.

Neither man has responded, Evans said.

Not all African-American leaders support the march. Dissenters said a public demonstration marring Crist's first day in office is inappropriate. They said Crist has a record of championing civil rights.

Two years ago, the same group that is planning the protest - the Florida State Conference of NAACP Branches - awarded Crist the Marvin Davies Civil Rights Award for pushing civil rights legislation.

And in Crist's gubernatorial campaign, many African-Americans were heartened to hear Crist say that he favored automatic restoration of civil rights for felons.

"This new governor has been committed to civil rights. He's got a track record," said state Sen. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee.

State Rep. Joan Cusack, D-DeLand, said she plans to be at the inauguration, but not to protest.

"I'm going to support our new governor," she said.

In widely distributed e-mails obtained by the St. Petersburg Times, at least three prominent African-Americans, including two former NAACP officers, have implored Nweze to reconsider the march.

"I agree with the purpose - they want justice for Martin Lee Anderson - but I see no connection between that purpose and protesting the inauguration," said Whitfield Jenkins of Ocala, one of the e-mail writers.

A former vice president for the Florida NAACP, Jenkins also served 12 years on the Florida Human Rights Commission.

"It hurts me to be publicly at odds with the NAACP - it has such a great history - but I couldn't sit still," Jenkins said.

Another e-mail writer, Darryl Rouson, a St. Petersburg lawyer who once headed the city's NAACP chapter, said, "This issue should never get swept under the rug. We need to continue the pressure, but I think we have to be statesmen about when we apply the pressure."

Nweze could not be reached for comment Friday. But Evans, a business professor at Florida A&M University, said she and the rest of the NAACP's state leadership are aware of the opposition.

"They have informed us," Evans said. "But we gave (Crist) an opportunity to respond to the state president. He failed to even give her a telephone call. We will proceed as planned."

Anderson's family has been invited to participate in the protest, Evans said. A call to the family's attorney, Ben Crump of Tallahassee, was not returned Friday.

Crist's transition office also did not respond to a request for comment.

[Last modified December 23, 2006, 00:43:45]