She Lied And They Died: 4 Black men receives posthumous pardon after 70 years

From left, Lake County Sheriff Willis McCall and an unidentified man stand next to Walter Irvin, Samuel Shepherd and Charles Greenlee in Florida in 1949. The three men and a fourth man were accused of raping a white woman in 1949 in a case now seen as racial injustice. Photo Credit: State Library and Archives of Florida

70 years ago in 1949, 17year old Norma Padgett accused four young black boys Charles Greenlee, Walter Irvin, Samuel Shepherd and Ernest Thomas of sexually assaulting and raping her. Norma Padgett claimed her car broke down in Groveland and the four boys stopped and rapped her. The case known as the “Groveland Four”

Shepherd and Irvin shot by the sherrif while being transported from a county jail for retrial.

The boys were arrested, Thomas managed to escape custody, but was shot dead after a police man hunt. The other three were tortured until police was able to elicit a confession from them. A jury convicted the boys without evidence of a crime.
Greenlee was sentenced to life in jail. Shepherd and Irvin received the death penalty. While being transported from county jail for a retrial, the sheriff shot them both and claimed self-defense. Shepherd died at the scene and Irvin survived by playing dead. His sentence was later commuted to life in prison.

Irvin, Greenlee and Shepherd in custody

Seventy years later On Friday 11th January 2019 the Florida Governor Ron DeSantis officially pardons the “Groveland Four” posthumously, declaring them innocent of the crime that cut their young lives short.

One can only begin to imagine the level of pain these young men suffered. Not even your worst enemy deserves this.

Norma Padgett lied and the #Groveland_Four died. Humanity should rise above racism, prejudice and injustice or am I being utopian?

As a Phoenix rises from the ashes, Africa and black People shall rise again. Rest on brothers