Mr. Andrew Joseph, father of Andrew Joseph III, speaking at the Vigil for Jonas Joseph.
Video from the Vigil for Jonas Joseph.
Family of Andrew Joseph III wins landmark case Against Hillsborough County Sheriff Office
On February 7th, 2014, 14 year old Andrew Joseph III was attending the school district sponsored day at the Florida State Fair when he and 100 teenagers, mostly Black, were detained, searched, and kicked out of the fair by Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Officers. The officers abandoned Andrew Joseph III on the interstate miles away from the fairgrounds without calling his parents, where he was hit and killed by a passing car while trying to go home. The officers’ recklessness led directly to Andrew Joseph III’s death, and they must be held accountable. Eight years after his tragic death, Joseph’s family finally saw a long awaited trial to demand accountability from the sheriff's department started on September 12th.
Over the last eight years, the police have refused to give up any documents around Andrew Joseph III’s case by appealing to qualified immunity, which protects the cops from civil lawsuits and makes it harder to hold them accountable. The trial was pushed back for way too long because of this judicial precedent which holds the cops above the people. Though it was ordered after years and years of fighting and organization from the family.
During the trial, the defense has itself argued that the officers involved have no obligation to follow the laws while detaining minors, arrested key witnesses preventing testimony, and demonized a child who died as a result of HCSO incompetence. With a system that so rarely investigates the police and holds them accountable, they have continued to lie and fabricate stories that do not add up to avoid facing repercussions for causing the unjust death of yet another Black life. However, the jury saw through these lies and took the side of justice.
This case is a historic win for the Black national movement as the state takes a blow with the first steps toward abolishing qualified immunity come into effect. Accountabili
