b'BLACK HISTORYUnveiled Florida Memorial Honors 4 Men Wrongfully Accused of RapeArticle from BlackMansStreet.comBy Frederick H. LoweAwerearrestedforrapinga memorial honoring four black men who white woman, including two murdered bypolicebeforeorshortlyafterthe trial, was unveiled recently in front of theLakeCounty,Florida,Historical Museum in Tavares.The men, known as the Groveland Four, named for the town Groveland, Florida, were Charles Greenlee, Walter Irvin,SamuelShepherdandErnest Thomas.LakeCountySheriffWillisMcCall led a posse of 1,000 armed men who murdered Thomas before he had been charged with rape. McCall also mur- Three of the Groveland Four (left to right): Walter dered Irvin while driving him to prisonIrvin, Samuel Shepherd and Charles Greenlee. from the Lake County, Florida, jail. Ernest Thomas, the fourth man, was murdered Policechargedthreeofthefourby a sheriffs posse. Irvin, the fourth man, was menwithrapingNormaPadgettinmurdered by the sheriff.1949. They were convicted and eitherslept under a tree. He had not yet been sentenced to death or to life in prisoncharged with a crime.fortheallegedrape,basedsolelyon Padgettsword,althoughaphysicalIn 1951, Lake County Sheriff Willis examinationbyadoctorprovedsheMcCallwastransportingIrvinand had not been raped. ShepherdfromRaifordStatePrison Irvin refused to confess to the crime. back to the Lake County jail in Tavares when he claimed to have a flat tire.Thomas escaped, but he was huntedAlone with the two handcuffed pris-down by a posse of more than 1,000oners, McCall drove down a dirt road menwhoshothim400timesashesupposedly to inspect one of the cars tires, outside Umatilla, Florida, north of Tavares. He said Shepherd asked to urinate, and the two prisoners, cuffed together, got out of the car.McCallclaimedthemenattempted toescapebyattackinghim.Heshot themboththreetimes.Shepherd,a A white mobWorld War 2 veteran, was killed, but Irvin. also veteran, pretended he was knocked thedeadandsurvived.Bothmenwere proud to wear their uniforms.sheriff out of theOnJanuary11,2019,Governor DeSantis pardoned the four 70 years way, dragged theafter police arrested and tortured them.Black men falsely accused of rape by men from the jailwhite women has been commonplace in the nations history.and lynched EliasInanothercase,IreneTuskin, 19,claimedshehadbeenrapedby Clayton, Elmerthree black men on June 15, 1920 in Duluth, Minnesota. A physician exam-ined Tuskin, determining she had not Jackson and Isaacbeen raped.A white mob knocked the sheriff out McGhie. of the way, dragged the men from the jail and lynched Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie. Their mur-ders are detailed in the 1979 book The Lynchings in Duluth.Later,Dulutherectedamonument Continued on Page 15BODY OF CHRIST NEWS MARCH 2020 11'