Bay Area crime survivors head to Tallahassee demanding change: ‘We should be outraged’
TAMPA, Fla. - On Tuesday, dozens of crime survivors from across the Bay Area boarded a bus bound for Tallahassee where they’ll join hundreds of others whose lives have been shattered by crimes.
The trip was organized by Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice, a national network of crime survivors that seeks to make communities safer.
They’ll meet at the state capitol to call on lawmakers to create policies that address trauma, support victims, and tackle the root causes of crime.
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The hope is that by sharing their personal and painful experiences, they’ll be able to prompt lawmakers to take action.
Bay Area crime survivors rally for change.
Johnny Johnson is making his fifth annual trip with CSSJ. He wants lawmakers to do more to meaningfully address gun violence.
"Gun violence is the leading cause of death of youth and teens. We should be outraged, not us as victims, but the whole country should be outraged. We’re letting out kids down," said Johnny Johnson, who lost his teenage son to gun violence in 2017. "Doing something is better than nothing. I read once that not everything that we face we can change, but we can’t change nothing until we face it. We have to address the elephant in the room if we really want change."
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Jayquon Johnson was a star basketball player at Brandon High. He was shot to death inside the home of another teen in Valrico in what the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said was a marijuana deal gone bad.
Pictured: Jayquon Johnson
Court documents reveal the other teen’s mom, who was home at the time, tried to cover up evidence by burying the guns at the scene. She later served time in jail for tampering with evidence. Her 16-year-old son claimed he shot Jayquon in self-defense.
Detectives said the evidence at the scene seemed to corroborate the claim, so he was never charged for shooting Jayquon Johnson.
Johnny Johnson says it’s a prime example of why lawmakers should take a closer look at the state’s Stand Your Ground law.
Bay Area crime survivors went to Tallahassee on Tuesday.
"It’s an awful law. Statistics show that we should revisit it," said Johnny Johnson. "If I murder someone, I shouldn’t be able to just say, ‘I was in fear of my life’. The law on our books puts the burden of proof on the prosecutor. They weren’t there, so how can they tell who did what?"
Other topics survivors are hoping lawmakers will address include adding legal protections to safeguard a survivor’s job and housing in the aftermath of a crime, and establishing more trauma recovery centers that are specifically made to serve victims of violence.