This documentary about how Kendrick Johnson was killed on January 10th, 2013, in Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia, was very thorough. The information it contains shows a desire from the school to downplay everything they could to prevent an actual investigation into his death. Kendrick Johnson was found wrapped up in a gym mat at his high school, which was eerily similar to something that occurred at Trumbull High School in 2000 while I was a student there. Because the person who it happened to was my friend, his name will be omitted. For reference, the story can be found in the New York Times article, "Hazing Scandal At High School Horrifies Town in Connecticut," written by Robert D. McFadden.
A friend of mine wanted to be on the Trumbull High School wrestling team, and every day, I tried to convince him to join the track team instead because one of the people on the wrestling team had been left back several times, and was extremely aggressive. The school also didn't do anything to prevent hazing, in fact, in the 1998 yearbook, there's a quote that was approved by the yearbook committee mentioning the continuation of "Ritualistic hazing." My friend, who was 15, had been frequently hazed violently by Daniel Scinto Jr. And Jeremy Dommu, both of whom were 18 years old at the time. Christopher Ricci, who was 16 at the time, was also involved in the horrifying hazing. The worst of it occurred when they wrapped my friend up in a rubber gym mat, and then slammed him into the bleachers in the gym repeatedly, resulting in broken bones, in addition to an act of sodomy with a plastic fork. My friend was found in the gym wrapped up in the mat. His family sued the school, and won the case, and they moved away soon after. Roughly a few months after I graduated, the wrestling coach who once found my friend dehydrated, and locked a metal grated gym locker over the weekend, leaving him to be found on Monday, was finally fired when he choked a parent at the High School during a wrestling match. This news story can be found in the News Day article, "Sports Flash Coach Charged With Assaulting Parent," written by the Associated Press.
In the case of Kendrick Johnson, it's clear that an assault occurred resulting in his death. This was verified by the second coroner's report. The nature of how he was found in the gym mat reminded me of what occurred to my friend, right down to the position of his body in the gun mat. The difference is that my friend lived to fight his case in court. Kendrick Johnson was literally murdered in his high school, and nothing was done about it at all. It's clearly a tragic example of intentional mismanagement at all of the highest levels, from the initial coroner's report, to the way the school literally tried to close the case the same day Kendrick Johnson was found in the gym mat. The FBI even redacted information from their school camera system review, and judges who were close to the family of the two suspects in Kendrick Johnson's murder recused themselves. This is something that happens far too often with implicit racial bias in the US. Watching this documentary brought me back to seeing my friend in a wheel chair after everything occurred.
The similarities to the severe hazing incident my friend experienced, and the case of Kendrick Johnson were too much to ignore. True justice needs to be served in the heartbreaking case of Kendrick Johnson. There are some exceptionally explicit images of atrocities committed against Black People in Finding Kendrick Johnson. Sadly, those soul crushing images are necessary because the US still has yet to place equal value in the lives of all Americans. Kendrick Johnson's family shouldn't have to allow the world to see his brutalized body for people to simply show basic human empathy. This is a disgusting part of America's legacy of racial violence that needs to be properly addressed. The Johnson family is incredibly brave, and Kendrick Johnson would be honored to know that his family will not stop until justice is truly served in the case of his death.
In the case of Kendrick Johnson, it's clear that an assault occurred resulting in his death. This was verified by the second coroner's report. The nature of how he was found in the gym mat reminded me of what occurred to my friend, right down to the position of his body in the gun mat. The only difference is that my friend lived to fight his case. Kendrick Johnson was literally murdered in his high school, and nothing was done about it at all. It's clearly a tragic case of intentional mismanagement at all of the highest levels, from the initial coroner's report, to the way the school literally tried to close the case the same day Kendrick Johnson was found in the gym mat. The FBI even redacted information from their school camera system review, and judges who were close to the family of the two suspects in Kendrick Johnson's recused themselves. This is something that happens far too often with implicit racial bias in the US. Seeing the documentary brought me back to seeing my friend in a wheel chair after everything occurred.
The similarities to the severe hazing incident my friend experienced, and the case of Kendrick Johnson were too much to ignore. True justice needs to be served in the heartbreaking case of Kendrick Johnson. There are some exceptionally explicit images in this documentary, Finding Kendrick Johnson. Sadly, those soul crushing images are necessary because the US still hasn't placed equal value in the lives of all Americans. Kendrick Johnson's family shouldn't have to allow the world to see his brutalized body for people to simply have empathy. This is a part of America's legacy of racial violence that needs to be properly addressed. The Johnson family is exceptionally brave, and Kendrick would be honored to know that his family will not stop until justice is truly served in the case of his death.
