Fight Back News is circulating the following statement from the family of DJ Broadus

“The family is pleased that Gardner Kent Fraser was arrested for tampering with evidence in connection to DJ’s murder even though this arrest didn’t include all the possible charges we were seeking. If Florida’s state legislators continue to uphold Stand Your Ground laws, dangerous killers, like Gardner Kent Fraser, will hide behind them, and families and victims, like ours, will never receive complete justice.

In light of this arrest, today (May 15, 2019) will mark 465 days since DJ was brutally executed at Southern State Nursery in Macclenny, and the beginning of a long journey to justice. The family – still resilient in our cause – is indebted to the many advocacy and community organizations, family friends and our brave Baker County allies for all their help in keeping the#Justice4DJBroadus fight alive.”

Broadus was found murdered with three bullet wounds to his head on property that belongs to the Fraser family, a very powerful family in the MacClenny, Florida, a few miles west of Jacksonville. Gardner Fraser, along with one other undisclosed person, were the only people on the property at the time of the murder and made the 911 call. Gardner Fraser, who was well known in MacClenny for his violent behavior, was terminated from North East Florida Hospital for breaking a patient’s jaw. Gardner Fraser is the son of a former Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Deputy, who was fired for shooting an unarmed Black man, and then hired by the Baker County Sheriff’s Office, where he eventually retired. Gardner Fraser is also the grandson of Edwin Fraser, who the MacClenny hospital is named after. Edwin Fraser served in the Florida State Senate and the Florida House of Representatives for several years between 1937 and 1963.

Last April, the Broadus family, along with community organizations like the Jacksonville Community Action Committee and African American residents of Baker County marched in the streets of Baker County demanding justice and murder charges against Gardner Fraser. As of now, he has only been charged with tampering with evidence. The arrest report showed that Gardner Fraser and Dominic Broadus had known each other previously. The case last year was removed by then-Florida Governor Rick Scott, away from State Attorney Bill Cervone in Baker County, and placed in the hands of Jacksonville State Attorney Melissa Nelson, who now has the power to file murder charges against GardnerFraser.

Be sure to follow the campaign on Facebook at “Justice4DjBroadus” for more updates on the next steps in the fight for justice.

#JacksonvilleFL #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #DJBroadus