Jacksonville, FL – There is no U.S. state attorney that has caused more injustice, tried more juveniles as adults, and spat in the face of more Black people than Florida State Attorney Angela Corey.

Since being elected to the position in 2008, State Attorney Angela Corey’s record has been one of scandal and high-profile political trials. This means the people of Jacksonville have a special responsibility to make sure she loses her upcoming primary on Aug. 30, which is closed to all but Republican voters because of a dirty move by her office. Why is it so important to get rid of Angela Corey, and what’s the best way to get rid of her?

A look at Angela Corey’s work over the past few years demonstrates why she’s the worst State Attorney in the U.S. Studying community efforts will answer how Jacksonville can finally get rid of Corey and strike a blow against racist discrimination and national oppression in Florida.

Disappointing high-profile cases

Florida tries more juveniles as adults than any other state in the country and Jacksonville’s Angela Corey tries more juveniles as adults than any other city in the state.

In 2011, Angela Corey oversaw the case of Christian Fernandez, a 12-year-old Latino boy who accidentally killed his younger brother. Corey’s grand jury indicted Christian Fernandez as an adult on charges of first degree murder and aggravated child abuse. Christian did time in solitary confinement at an adult facility before his trial, where he eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

In 2012, Republican Governor of Florida Rick Scott appointed Angela Corey to the trial of George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin. Miraculously, unlike her case against 12-year-old Christian Fernandez, Corey famously failed to get a conviction of the killer and Zimmerman walked free. This injustice contributed to the creation of the Black Lives Matter slogan, organization and movement. Zimmerman has resurfaced in the media several times since he murdered Trayvon for additional misconduct.

In 2012, Corey also prosecuted a 31-year-old Black woman, Marissa Alexander, for firing a warning shot against her abusive husband. Although no one was harmed in the incident and the husband, Rico Gray, admitted to prosecutors that the abused Alexander tried to leave the home before things escalated, Corey had no problem convicting the innocent woman. After three years, Alexander eventually entered a plea deal and was released from prison.

In 2014, Corey was involved in the trial of Michael Dunn for the murder of Jordan Davis. Michael Dunn was a white killer who pulled a gun and fired ten shots into a car full of Black teenagers parked at a Jacksonville gas station after they refused Dunn’s demand that they turn off their loud music. None of the Black teenagers were armed, but thanks to Angela Corey, Dunn’s first trial resulted in a mistrial verdict. A mass movement brought the case national attention, and Dunn was eventually convicted of Jordan’s murder after a re-trial.

These are only a small handful of Corey’s worst cases, but they prove a point. If you are white and murder a Black youth, Angela Corey is going to protect you. If you are a young Black or Latino person, Angela Corey is probably going to try you as an adult and go for the harshest sentence possible. Chattel slavery and old Jim Crow laws have given way to a new system of Jim Crow discrimination in Jacksonville, with Angela Corey as a primary figurehead.

Rampant corruption and dirty politics

There have been several alleged scandals in Angela Corey’s office over the past few years.

According to some sources who worked for Corey in the past, her office may have hidden important information about Duval County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Margarita Arruza, who developed severe memory loss while on the job. Allegedly, this was kept secret from attorneys working with Arruza. If true, this means that hundreds of cases may be in question since the autopsy data Arruza collected may have been inaccurate.

In addition to that alleged corruption, Angela Corey’s current re-election campaign has also proven questionable. Angela Corey is running as a Republican against Melissa Nelson and Wes White, also Republicans, and a write-in Democratic party candidate.

Angela Corey’s campaign manager was exposed after personally filing paperwork for the Democratic party write-in candidate, who has no real chance of winning the office. Now that a Democrat has entered the State Attorney’s race, the primary has become closed and only those registered as Republicans can vote against Angela Corey on Aug. 30. Over 58% of Duval County citizens are not Republicans, and won’t get any say on Aug. 30. Effectively, whoever wins the Republican primary is almost sure to win against the underfunded and unorganized write-in candidate later this year. It’s worth noting that the write-in candidate is a long-time Angela Corey supporter and even donated money to her campaign in the past.

The story is as ridiculous as it sounds. Alexander Pantinakis resigned as Angela Corey’s campaign manager after local and national media broke the story.

Angela Corey clearly needs to go – it’s time to take a look at how the people of Jacksonville can get her out of office.

Mass political struggle needed in August

There are three main aspects to the fight against Angela Corey from now through the primary. These three aspects are grassroots struggle, using the media and voting.

The most important factor that can help bring Angela Corey’s reign to an end is the mass political struggle growing in Jacksonville. The city of Chicago has proven that a mass movement to remove a state attorney can be victorious. Across Jacksonville, rallies, meetings and teach-ins have been held about the need to get Corey out of office. Readers are welcome to follow the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC) on Facebook for more information about upcoming events demanding Angela Corey out. By building a popular mass movement against the system of racial and national oppression Angela Corey represents, the people can defeat the rich and powerful supporters of a broken system.

There are three types of media coverage that will help get Angela Corey out of office – mainstream media coverage, independent media coverage, and social media coverage. Several local papers like the Folio and the Florida Times Union have been running articles that expose Angela Corey’s bad track record and corruption. Other sources like The Left Turn News Network and Fight Back! have been covering the fight against Corey from an independent perspective. Across Jacksonville and the entire nation, people are blogging and posting on social media about the terrible things Angela Corey has done and the corruption that is rampant in her office. Spreading the truth about Angela Corey makes it more likely she will lose power this year.

Several groups in town have banded together to form an alliance dedicated to getting everyone to temporarily change their party affiliation to Republican so they can vote Angela Corey out of office in the closed primary on Aug. 30. July 29 was the last day to change party affiliation and still vote in the primary, and reports indicate that efforts resulted in a few thousand citizens changing their party affiliation for the primary. This is good work that will help to strike a blow against the enemy, and will supplement other efforts to build a mass movement against Angela Corey.

Corey is running against Melissa Nelson and Wes White in the Republican primary. While neither Nelson nor White are the candidates Jacksonville deserves, Nelson defended 12-year-old Christian Fernandez back in 2012 and has the most support according to several polls. Wes White describes himself as a constitutional conservative and openly supports Donald Trump for president. Everyone should study the platforms of both candidates and ultimately vote against Angela Corey.

The road forward

People who can vote, should vote against Angela Corey on Aug. 30, and they should do even more to strike blows against her and the system she represents.

Getting Angela Corey out of office is not going to solve every problem Black and working-class people face in Jacksonville, but it will be a start. Across the nation, organizations are looking to the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) and their Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) initiative – which essentially boils down to a strong, democratically elected police review board with serious teeth that can withstand intimidation and co-option by the system.

History has shown us that the masses are the makers of history, and when the right political line is applied to a mass struggle, the people can win real victories and strike blows against oppression. Jacksonville will be a center of struggle over the next few weeks, and by relying on the people and organizing in the community, justice is sure to prevail.

#JacksonvilleFl #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #TrayvonMartin #Florida #Antiracism #AngelaCorey #AngelaCoreyOutNow #PoliceBruatality

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.

#JacksonvilleFL #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #AngelaCorey

Jacksonville, FL – About 25 people gathered in Friendship Park here, April 9, for a press conference to demand Angela Corey be removed from office. Angela Corey is the Florida state attorney responsible for prosecuting more death penalty cases in Duval County than anywhere else in the country, and for being third in the country for the number of minor offenders charged as adults. An overwhelming majority of those minors charged as adults with felonies are African American. Angela Corey is also responsible for letting George Zimmerman walk after the murder of Trayvon Martin and for locking Marissa Alexander up after Alexander was found guilty of firing a warning shot against her abusive husband. The press conference was called for by the Jacksonville Leadership Coalition, headed by the Reverend R.L. Gundy.

Several groups were invited to speak at the press conference, including the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC) and Mad Moms: Mothers on a Mission. Many of those present were African Americans with family members who had been victimized by Angela Corey's policies. Wells Todd spoke for the JPC in front of several news cameras and microphones, stating that the fight to get Angela Corey out of office was heating up and that activists were targeting financial backers of Corey like Firehouse Subs and Safetouch Security Systems, as well as W.W. Gay Mechanical Contractors. Todd called for a boycott of these local businesses because of the financial donations made to Corey's last election campaign.

Several of the family members of incarcerated youth and activists were interviewed by local news stations after the press conference. Everyone who attended the event vowed to strike a blow against racism and national oppression by stepping up the fight to get Angela Corey out of office.

#JacksonvilleFl #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #Florida #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #AngelaCorey #JPC

Organizers from the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC) called the event as part of its ongoing Angela Corey Out Now campaign. Several community groups like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) came out to the protest. Student activists from the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) chapters in Tampa and Tallahassee also attended in support.

Corey leads the state in direct commitments (plea deals) of juvenile offenders, most of whom are African American. From 2009 to 2013, Corey's 4th Judicial Circuit incarcerated 1475 juveniles, compared to just 32 in Miami. While the criminal injustice system in the U.S. disproportionately incarcerates Blacks and Latinos, the situation in Jacksonville under Corey is even more disastrous. From 2006 to 2011, Black males comprised 70% of all juvenile offenders tried as adults by Corey, versus 52% statewide.

Corey's botched prosecution of Trayvon Martin's killer, George Zimmerman, and her vicious persecution of African American mother Marissa Alexander for firing a defensive warning shot sparked the campaign in 2014. Recently, the JPC has targeted many of Corey's corporate and financial backers, including W.W. Gay, Firehouse Subs, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and BBVA/Compass bank. Corey is up for re-election this year.

The event kicked off to high enthusiasm in Riverside, a historic neighborhood in Jacksonville. Loud chants of “One, two, three, four – Angela Corey out the door,” and “Hey hey, ho ho, the New Jim Crow has got to go,” caught the attention of passing drivers, many of whom honked or shouted in support. Protesters carried signs reading, “No justice, no peace!” and “Stop supporting Angela Corey” and passed out leaflets about Corey to people out walking.

Later the crowd took over a lane of traffic on Stockton Street and marched to the front gates of W.W. Gay. Chants of “Kids deserve an education, not mass incarceration,” and “Whose streets? Our streets!” grew louder as the protesters marched under Interstate 10.

After arriving at W.W. Gay, Wells Todd from the JPC spoke before the crowd on Corey's attacks on Jacksonville's Black community. He blasted W.W. Gay and the Corey's other financial backers for directly supporting mass incarceration. Todd ended his speech by encouraging the crowd to keep marching and continue building a mass movement against racism.

W.W. Gay Mechanical Contractor Inc. is a Jacksonville-based plumbing and industrial contractor giant that spans across Florida and the U.S. South. Along with its associated companies, W.W. Gay has invested thousands of dollars into Corey as state attorney since her first election in 2008. More than a year before the 2016 election, they had already given Corey $2000.

These companies directly benefit from the expansion of the criminal injustice system in Jacksonville, which Corey helps facilitate. In 2009, the city council awarded the $25 million Duval County Courthouse construction contract to W.W. Gay. More recently W.W. Gay and its associated companies landed major roles in the construction of the new state attorney's office building – a renovation project valued at almost $26 million.

The JPC will continue organizing to remove Corey from office and build a mass movement against racism in Jacksonville.

#JacksonvilleFL #PoliceBrutality #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #AngelaCorey #AngelaCoreyOutNow

The Jacksonville Progressive Coalition has called for two rallies that will target major financial backers of Corey's previous campaign for state attorney and slam the companies for supporting Corey's racist policies.

The first rally will take place outside of SafeTouch Security Systems on Feb. 21 at 1:00 p.m. The address for SafeTouch Security Systems is 9600 Sunbeam Center Drive, Jacksonville, Florida.

The second rally will take place outside of W.W. Gay Mechanical Contractor on Feb. 28 at 1:00 p.m. The address for W.W. Gay Mechanical Contractor is 524 Stockton Street, Jacksonville, Florida.

Fernando Figueroa of the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition had this to say about the upcoming events, “We are mobilizing community members and organizations from around Jacksonville who are tired of Angela Corey's reign of terror, where killers with badges are protected and Black people are oppressed. By protesting outside of her financial backers, we're looking to hit her next campaign for reelection in the pockets. I urge everyone who loves justice and equality to come speak out against Angela Corey. Our message is clear – we want Angela Corey out now!”

#JacksonvilleFL #TrayvonMartin #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #AngelaCorey

Jacksonville, FL – On August 8, activists in Jacksonville staged two demonstrations tied to the Black Lives Matter movement. In the morning, community organizers rallied for a press conference outside of the Duval Regional Juvenile Detention Center against the mass incarceration of Black youth. Later that day, young activists led a Black Lives Matter march through downtown Jacksonville against racist police crimes.

Demonstration against mass incarceration and State Attorney Angela Corey at the Juvenile Detention Center

Around 11:00 a.m., the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC) gathered outside of Duval Regional Juvenile Detention Center to speak out against State Attorney Angela Corey and racist prosecution practices that target Black youth. Corey's 4th Judicial Circuit leads the state of Florida in the charging of Black male juveniles as adults. However, Corey has never charged a police officer in her circuit with unlawful use of force, despite dozens of police killings in her nearly seven years in office.

Activists gathered around a banner with the slogan, “Black Lives Matter,” while handing out literature about mass incarceration to participants, spectators and media. Several members of the JPC and the community spoke about Corey and her role in the mass incarceration of Black people, particularly juveniles, in Duval County.

“We are here today at this Juvenile Detention Center to break the silence in Jacksonville concerning Angela Corey's mass incarceration regime,” said Wells Todd, a lead organizer with the JPC, during a speech at the event. “We are here today to speak out against our children being tried as adults. We are here to speak out against the intimidation tactics used by Angela Corey's office, intimidating children and their families into taking plea deals when there is not enough evidence to take the case to trial.”

Todd continued, “We are here because Angela Corey is building her career on the backs of our children, and we are saying we mean to stop her.”

After Todd's speech, the nearly 20-person crowd chanted “1, 2, 3, 4, Angela Corey out the door. 5, 6, 7, 8, we want justice, we can't wait.” Undeterred by the blistering Florida heat and the half dozen police cars that encircled the facility, they continued chanting for over an hour. Cars and cyclists that rode by honked and waved in support.

Other speakers at the demonstration tied the struggle against Corey with the Black Lives Matter movement around the country.

“We say 'Black Lives Matter' because Black lives have never mattered under this system,” said Connell Crooms, a member of the JPC and a deaf community organizer in Jacksonville. “This is an opportune time to force the issue. We can no longer be ignored. We will no longer be ignored.”

Youth-led Black Lives Matter courthouse rally marches through downtown

Later in the afternoon, more than 50 people from the Jacksonville community gathered outside the Duval County Courthouse. The event, organized by the newly formed Black Lives Matter Jax (BLMJAX), drew an energetic crowd of mostly young African-Americans.

“I think it is important to march for Black Lives Matter because it’s our job as millennials to take on this responsibility of fighting this new breed of racism, which is institutional,” said Joshua Parks, one of the main organizers of the event and a student at Howard University. “This form of racism is rather oblique. So it is our responsibility not only to bring attention and awareness to this issue through protest, civil disobedience and demonstration, but to also take action in attacking this covert system and all of the structures that uphold it.”

The crowd marched through downtown Jacksonville and chanted, “Hey hey, ho ho, the New Jim Crow has got to go,” and “No justice, no peace, no racist police.” Some carried signs that read “Jail killer cops, not Black youth,” “Angela Corey out now,” and “Straight outta patience,” the latter inspired by the album Straight Outta Compton by the hip-hop group N.W.A.

At the Landing, a popular tourist spot on the Saint Johns River in downtown, the crowd regrouped for a brief community discussion on racism and police crimes nationally. Speakers talked about the need to build a movement against white supremacy and discussed strategies to empower one another locally.

Members of BLMJAX spoke about many of the police crimes committed across the country, such as the suspicious circumstances of Sandra Bland's death in Texas. Bland was found dead in jail after a routine traffic stop.

D'Angelo Stallworth and police crimes in Jacksonville

A couple speakers at both events talked about the murder of 28-year-old African American D'Angelo Stallworth in Jacksonville on May 12. Stallworth, father of three, was shot six times by two white police officers, who claimed that they thought D'Angelo looked suspicious. He was unarmed at the time of the shooting, and an independent autopsy ordered by the family indicates that police shot him in the back as he ran away – in other words, executing him.

To date, State Attorney Angela Corey has not indicted either officer. JSO has refused to release the names of the two officers to the public.

#JacksonvilleFL #InJusticeSystem #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #Antiracism #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #AngelaCorey #BlackLivesMatter #DangeloStallworth

Jacksonville, FL – Over a dozen protestors gathered outside the Duval County Courthouse on June 8 to demand Justice for D'Angelo Stallworth. This was the latest action in a series of protests, vigils and rallies since Stallworth was murdered near his home by two deputies of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO) on May 12. Stallworth was a supervisor at the Jacksonville UPS hub and left behind three children.

Since the murder, an independent autopsy has refuted the story that the two JSO deputies initially provided. The initial story described officers fearing for their life, but it was later revealed that Stallworth was unarmed and shot in the back up to 40 feet away as he tried to escape.

Protesters carries signs reading “Justice for D'Angelo” while several people handed out hundreds of fliers to those walking to or from the courthouse.

Latrelle Johnson, D'Angelo's girlfriend and mother to one of his children led the spirited rally through most of the day with chants of “Justice for D,” “Hey hey, ho ho, these killer cops have got to go,” “Same thing every time, being Black is not a crime,” and “JSO lied!” She also said, “We're out here for justice for the life of D'Angelo Stallworth. We're just looking for answers. We want the truth. D'Angelo was 40 feet away and shot in the back multiple times. Today we're going to march and fight for what's right.”

The decision to indict the officers rests with State Attorney Angela Corey. Corey is notorious for her over-prosecution of Black youth and her support for ‘tough-on-crime’ police tactics. She has also recently announced her bid for a third term as state attorney in the upcoming election.

Organizers vow to continue the fight with more marches and protests. There is a Justice for D'Angelo Block Party this Saturday, June 13, at Wesconnett Park at 1:00 p.m.

#JacksonvilleFL #PoliceBrutality #AngelaCorey #DangeloStallworth #JacksonvilleSheriffsOffice