Jacksonville, FL – Over two dozen protesters gathered in front of Angela Corey's office, April 27, to demand she be removed from office. In Jacksonville, State Attorney Angela Corey is responsible for leading Florida in the imprisonment of juvenile offenders, most of whom are Black. From 2009 to 2013, Corey's office incarcerated 1475 juveniles in the Jacksonville area alone, compared to just 32 in Miami during the same period. In almost four out of five of cases, Corey threatened the juvenile defendant with being charged as an adult in order to coerce a plea deal, since adult charges carry harsher consequences.

The rally was organized by the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition and included families harmed by Corey's policies, students and Black Lives Matter activists from around the city.

The protest began with chants of, “Hey hey, ho ho, Angela Corey has got to go!” and “Money for jobs and education, not mass incarceration!” Several local TV news stations and a radio station came out to cover the event and conduct interviews. At the very beginning of the assembly, Angela Corey snuck out the back door of her office building and her employees left periodically in groups under the watch of several security guards as the protest took place.

Speakers addressed the crowd and called for Angela Corey to either resign or be removed from office by Governor Rick Scott. As her election day in November draws near, many groups around the city have ramped up the fight to get her out of office. Jacksonville Progressive Coalition member Wells Todd addressed the crowd, speaking about Corey's part in mass incarceration and juveniles being tried as adults. In fact, more juveniles are tried as adults in Duval County than anywhere else in the country. Several of the speakers addressed the national outrage at Corey for failing to win justice for Trayvon Martin's murder, and some mentioned the abuses Corey committed against Marissa Alexander, a Black woman incarcerated for defending herself from an abuser.

The evening's rally ended with a group photo on the steps of the State Attorney's office before protesters marched and chanted on the sidewalk. The fight to get Angela Corey out of office is heating up in Jacksonville and activists are prepared to fan the flames.

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