UPDATE: Confederate flag flies again in Marion County
News 13, July 07, 2015

Marion County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to put the Confederate flag back up at the county's government complex.

The flag was removed Thursday and temporarily replaced with a flag with the seal of Marion County.

County officials said the decision to remove the flag last week was in response to growing controversy surrounding the flag following the shooting deaths of nine black men and women at a historic church in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17. The suspect, 21-year-old Dylann Roof, had posed with a Confederate flag in photos posted on a website that displayed a racist manifesto attributed to him.

After the deadly shootings, Marion County's interim county administrator, Bill Kauffman, consulted with County Commission Chairman Stan McClain and decided to remove the Confederate flag, which has flown outside the county's government complex for more than two decades.

Within minutes of Tuesday morning's vote, the Civil War-era flag was seen flying once again outside the government complex as one of the five national flags which have flown over Florida since European explorers first landed on its shores more than 500 years ago. The other four are Spanish, French, British and Read more

County removes Confederate flag from display in front of McPherson
Ocala Star-Banner
By Kristine Crane, Staff writer
June 29, 2015

Marion County administration has removed the Confederate flag that had been flying in front of the McPherson Governmental Complex.

"It was my decision as county administrator," Interim County Administrator Bill Kauffman said.

Kauffman conferred with County Commission Chairman Stan McClain in making the decision, but the Board of County Commissioners was not involved in it, said Barbra Hernandez, spokeswoman for Marion County.

"Obviously, Marion County is respectful of history," she explained about the decision. "We also understand the perceived connotations of displaying the flag at governmental agencies."

The flag was removed last week. Hernandez said the county didn’t receive any calls from residents asking officials to take the flag down.

But Joyce Blake, chair of the Marion County Democratic Party, did send County Commissioner Earl Arnett an email last week asking how many Confederate flags were displayed in front of government agencies in the county — and why they were displayed.

Blake on Monday morning said she still hasn’t received a response to her questions, though she has been provided confirmation that her email was received.

Hernandez said there are no other Confederate flags on display on county government property. Read more

FRUITLAND PARK -- Two officers with the Fruitland Park Police Department are off the job after an investigation linked them to the Ku Klux Klan. An investigation by the FBI named Deputy Chief David Borst and Cpl. George Hunnewell as members of the Klan.

Borst resigned, and Hunnewell was terminated Friday following a brief internal investigation, Fruitland Park Police Chief Terry Isaacs said. Hunnewell had been demoted from corporal in 2013 for five write-ups for conduct, attitude, performance and timeless, Isaacs said. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement presented an investigative summary from an FBI source to Isaacs on Wednesday, stating the officers were associated with a "subversive organization."

The investigation found no criminal wrongdoings.

"We are here, we are in place, and I want the public to know this type of conduct will not even be remotely tolerated," Isaacs said.

Isaacs said he plans to interview every police officer within the department and ask them about potential ties to subversive groups, which are against department policy.

Every case that Borst and Hunnewell worked will now be turned over for review by the State Attorney's Office, Isaacs said. more

Southern Poverty Law Center Active Ku Klux Klan Groups

White supremacy
Wikipedia

White supremacy or white supremacism is a form of racism centered upon the belief, and promotion of the belief, that white people are superior in certain characteristics, traits, and attributes to people of other racial backgrounds and that therefore whites should politically, economically and socially rule non-whites. The term is also typically used to describe a political ideology that perpetuates and maintains the social, political, historical and/or industrial domination by white people (as evidenced by historical and contemporary sociopolitical structures like the Atlantic Slave Trade, colonization of the Global South, Jim Crow laws in the United States, and miscegenation laws in settler colonies and former settler colonies like the United States, South Africa, Australia, and Madagascar, for example).[1] Different forms of white supremacism put forth different conceptions of who is considered white, and different white supremacists identify various racial and cultural groups as their primary enemy.[2] In academic usage, the term

"white supremacy" can also refer to a system where whites enjoy a structural advantage (privilege) over other ethnic groups, both at a collective and an individual level (ceteris paribus, i. e., when individuals are compared that do not relevantly differ except in ethnicity). Read more

"Between 1885 and 1930, nineteen black men were lynched in Marion County, nine of them for sexual offenses. Marion County lynchings were public affairs, often carried out before hundreds of witnesses, but none of the perpetrators was prosecuted."

"Marion County mobs sometimes left a placard or a sign attached to the body of the victim; when Robert Larkin was lynched in 1893, the mob left a placard reading, "Done by 300 of the best citizens of this county."

19 Confirmed Lynchings in Marion County, Florida, 1885-1932, from Appendix B, page 196.

1. Caesar Carooth, black male - lynched July 3, 1885
2. George Green, black male - lynched Dec. 12, 1887
3. Robert Larkin, black male - lynched July 12, 1893
4. Nero Young, black male - lynched May 15, 1894
5. William Jackson, black male - lynched Dec. 1, 1894
6. William Jones, black male - lynched Dec. 15, 1894
7. James Gilmore, black male - lynched March 15, 1897
8. James Miley, black male - lynched March 15, 1897
9. Ed Holmes, black male - lynched March 15, 1897
10. Otis Miller, black male - lynched March 16, 1897
11. Robert Alexander, black male - lynched June 9, 1899
12. Norman McKinney, black male - lynched Jan. 16, 1901
13. Preece Niles, black male - lynched Nov. 14, 1912
14. John Archie, black male - lynched Nov. 19, 1912
15. John Richards, black male - lynched February 17, 1915
16. Joseph Nimrod, black male - lynched Dec. 29, 1915
17. Richard Anderson, black male - lynched Jan. 28, 1916
18. Elijah Jones, black male - lynched Feb. 12, 1921
19. Chandler Colding, black male - lynched Jan. 11, 1926

Pages 72-73 "The tradition of lynching was also deeply rooted in the county. The author of a memoir of the community of Citra recalled the route taken by the local school bus in the 1920s: "it went through Cabbage Hammock, by Mr. Wartman's fence, and then by 'The Hanging Tree,' where it was not unusual to see pieces of frayed rope swaying from a stout limb, in the early morning light." [fn15]. Lynching seems to have had broad support among whites in Marion County."

Page 73, second paragraph, "Until the middle of the 1920s, the local press took a uniformly approving tone when reporting lynchings. When Elijah Jones was lynched for allegedly raping a seventy-year-old white woman and attempting to assault an eleven-year-old white girl, the Ocala Banner reported that three thousand people either participated in hanging Jones or viewed his body after the lynching." Page 73 continued...

"The Ocala Evening Star wrote a long article on the lynching, defending it in strident terms. According to the paper, Jones was a "bad nigger," a "filthy ruffian," a "rape fiend," and a "degenerate young devil." Those who lynched him were not a mob but "representative citizens, and they consider it their duty to rid their county of rapists and rattlesnakes as soon as possible." The mob members "understood all about" a remark Jones was reported to have made, "that he wanted white because he was tired of black. That is the inspiration of all the rape fiends, and the only thing to meet it with is hot lead and hemp." The paper scornfully dismissed an inquiry from the Associated Press concerning race troubles in Marion County, insisting that all was quiet and that everyone was going about their business as usual." [fn16, Ocala Banner, February 18, 1921,5; Ocala Evening Star, February 14,1921,1.]

Page 71, "The Ku Klux Klan was active in Marion County, and in one case lynched the suspected murderers of a white man, hanging the skeleton of one of their victims from a tree near Ocala." [fn6]
 

Pages 71-72, "A striking aspect of lynching in Marion County is the frequency with which mobs took their victims from the custody of law enforcement, apparently meeting little or no resistance. Of the fifteen cases in which I have been able to determine the circumstances of the suspect's capture by the mob, all but two involved suspects already in the custody of law enforcement officers."

Lynching in the United States
Wikipedia

Lynching, the practice of murdering people by extrajudicial mob action, occurred in the United States chiefly from the late 18th century through the 1960s. Lynchings took place most frequently against African-American men in the southern U.S. after the American Civil War and the emancipation of all slaves, and particularly from 1890 to the 1920s, with a peak in 1892. Lynchings were also very common in the Old West, where victims were primarily men of Mexican and Chinese minorities, although whites were also lynched.[1] Read more

Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror

Equal Justice Initiative
122 Commerce Street
Montgomery, Alabama 36104

Bryan Stevenson, Founder
And Executive Director

Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror documents EJI’s multi-year investigation into lynching in twelve Southern states during the period between Reconstruction and World War II. EJI researchers documented 3959 racial terror lynchings of African Americans in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia between 1877 and 1950 – at least 700 more lynchings of black people in these states than previously reported in the most comprehensive work done on lynching to date. Read more

EJI Report Summary: Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror. New York Times: History of Lynchings in the South Documents Nearly 4,000 Names. Supplement - Lynchings of African Americans by County. (18 lynchings in Marion County, Florida)

Larry Cretul, Wikipedia

Larry Cretul is a Florida real estate broker, Republican politician, and Speaker of the House of Representatives of the State of Florida. He represents House District 22, based in Ocala.

Cretul was subsequently elected Speaker Pro Tempore of the State House on November 18, 2008. On January 30, 2009, Speaker Ray Sansom announced he was "recusing" himself from his duties as Speaker due to a scandal over accepting an unadvertised job at Northwest Florida State College. Under the rule allowing him to recuse himself, Sansom named Cretul acting Speaker until Sansom could return. Sansom and Cretul are roommates in Tallahassee while the state House is in session. Read more

Speaker of the House Cretul committed to help get the orange radio tower moved so the Confederate Soldier Statue would not face it, according to Marion County Historical Commission records, Meeting minutes for February 1, 2010, see below.

Neo-Confederate is a term used by some to describe the views of various groups and individuals who portray the Confederate States of America and its actions in the American Civil War in a positive light. See also: Lost Cause of the Confederacy.

Confederate History Month
Wikipedia

Confederate History Month is a month annually designated by six state governments in the Southern United States for the purpose of recognizing and honoring the history of the Confederate States of America. April has traditionally been chosen, as Confederate Memorial Day falls during that month in many of these states. Read more

CLERK'S DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

CONFEDERATE CURRENCY ARCHIVES

HISTORIC BROCHURES

The information in these brochures was researched and compiled by the Marion County Historical Commission.  They provide interesting glimpses into the history of our county along with information on where to go to learn more.

• Historic Marion County
• Marion County's 150 Year Commemoration of the War Between the States 1861-1865

HISTORY OF JUDGES IN MARION COUNTY

Research for these documents was performed by Hale R. Stancil (left) Circuit Judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Florida

Judges of Marion County Florida Since 1845

Judges of the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Florida

Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877) a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War...served as the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan...Forrest was accused of war crimes at the Battle of Fort Pillow for allowing forces under his command to massacre hundreds of black Union Army and white Southern Unionist prisoners...Wikipedia\

Court clerk settles discrimination lawsuit

Ocala Star-Banner by Suevon Lee

February 2, 2011

Ortiz-Carballo v. Ellspermann
Florida Middle District Court

Case No. 5:08-cv-00165
District Judge Wm. Terrell Hodges, presiding

Nature of Suit: 442 Civil Rights: Jobs

David R. Ellspermann (left) Clerk of Court

Confederate Memorial Day
Wikipedia

Confederate Memorial Day, also known as Confederate Decoration Day (Tennessee) and Confederate Heroes Day (Texas), is an official holiday or observance day in a number of states in the Southern United States as a day to honor those who died fighting for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Read more

State of Florida v. Debra Beasley Lafave Marion County Case No. 04-2454-CF-A-Z documents and news stories below:

1. Order Rejecting Proposed Below Guidelines Plea Agreement, Judge Stancil

2. Nolle Prosequi and Attached Memo Brad King State Attorney, March 21, 2006

3. Lafave deal rejected St. Pete Times Online, March 21, 2006

4. Statement from State Attorney's office Tampa Bay Times

5. Charges dropped against Lafave, Tampa Bay Times, Mar-21-06

6. Lafave case 'over for good', Tampa Bay Times, March 22, 2006

7. Debra Lafave v. State of Florida, Case No. SC12-2231, Supreme Court of Florida, Decision Oct-16-2014, review decision of Second DCA, State v. LaFave, 113 So. 3d 31 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012)

• Stancil Family Confederate Service 1861-1865
• Speech by Judge Hale Stancil Sept. 1, 2008
• A Message to Garcia (Wikipedia)
• Florida Code of Judicial Conduct Canon 3

Gov. McDonnell apologizes for omitting slavery in Confederacy proclamation

CNN News, April 9, 2010

(CNN) -- Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell apologized Wednesday for leaving out any reference to slavery in his recent proclamation designating April as Confederate History Month, calling it a "major omission."

"The failure to include any reference to slavery was a mistake, and for that I apologize to any fellow Virginian who has been offended or disappointed," McDonnell said in a written statement.

"The abomination of slavery divided our nation, deprived people of their God-given inalienable rights, and led to the Civil War," the statement said. "Slavery was an evil, vicious and inhumane practice which degraded human beings to property, and it has left a stain on the soul of this state and nation."

McDonnell also announced Wednesday that he would add language about slavery to the proclamation.

"(I)t is important for all Virginians to understand that the institution of slavery led to this (Civil) war and was an evil and inhumane practice that deprived people of their God-given inalienable rights," the new language says, "and all Virginians are thankful for its permanent eradication from our borders." Read more

Inscription on Johnny Reb, the Marion County Confederate Soldier Statue:

• The South Reveres Her Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Andrew Jackson, And Others, Who Laid The Foundations Of Our Grand Republic. She Honors Her Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Stuart, Johnson, Forest, And Every Brave Son Who Fought To Preserve Our Liberties, Guaranteed By The Fathers, Under The Constitution.

No mention of Abraham Lincoln, et al., just the slave-owning U.S. presidents: One in four U.S. presidents were slaveholders: 12 owned slaves at some point in their lives. Tellingly, 8 presidents owned slaves while living in the White House. Also noteworthy is Nathan Bedford Forrest a Confederate lieutenant general during the American Civil War...who served as the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan...Forrest was accused of war crimes at the Battle of Fort Pillow. The Constitution described on the Confederate statue means the original Constitution of 1789 that permitted slavery, not the U.S. Constitution and Thirteenth Amendment (1865), Fourteenth Amendment (1868), and Fifteenth Amendment (1870) in place when the statue was erected in 1908.

_________________________________________

The Gettysburg Address and equality, rejected by Marion County.

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth...a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal... Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation... can... endure...we here highly resolve...that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." - Abraham Lincoln

Military Order Of The Stars and Bars, Florida.
Marion County, Marion Dragoons #164

Newsletter Winter 2013, page 8: Lord, we give thanks to you for the blessing of being able to honor our ancestors who gave their all to protect us, defend our honor and uphold the original intent of our Constitution. (Slavery in the United States)

County prepares to move Confederate monument Ocala Star-Banner
By Bill Thompson, Staff writer
November 18, 2009

County administrator to create list of possible sites for statue.

The Confederate monument that stood guard in front of the Marion County Courthouse for nearly a century, only to be stuck in a corner two years ago as the facility was expanded, is likely moving. The question remains: more

• Confederate statue's new home: veterans park
• Florida Public Archeology Network, statue images

Confronting racism face-to-face - BBC News
Published on May 17, 2014 YouTube

Mo Asumang, daughter of a black Ghanaian father and a white German mother, talks to BBC News about her experiences making her new documentary, The Aryans, in which she confronts racists, both in Germany and among the Ku Klux Klan in America. Link to Facebook

Link to Wikipedia (German) Link to BBC News

Chapter 683 Florida Statutes (2014)

LEGAL HOLIDAYS; SPECIAL OBSERVANCES

683.01 Legal holidays.—
(d) Birthday of Robert E. Lee, January 19.
(j) Confederate Memorial Day, April 26.
(l) Birthday of Jefferson Davis, June 3.

IN 2013, THE STATE OF FLORIDA celebrated a significant milestone:

The 500th anniversary of Juan Ponce de Leon’s first landing on Florida’s east coast. Viva Florida 500 is the name given to the year-long, statewide celebration to bring awareness to Florida’s rich and diverse history.

In the anticipation of the commemoration and to encourage local activities, the Department of the State’s Division of Library Services provided a Viva Florida 500 time capsule, purchased with Library Services and Technology Act grant funds, to each of Florida’s 67 counties. In Marion County, the Marion County Public Library System was appointed to coordinate the time capsule commemorative project efforts.

• Marion County Time Capsule Project Viva Florida 500

Judge Won't Step Down In Trial Of Murder Case, Orlando Sentinel
By Sherri M. Owens, Sentinel Staff
March 23, 2004|

Circuit Judge Hale R. Stancil Denied A Motion By The State Attorney That Claims Bias.

TAVARES -- The judge in the Joshua Walsh murder trial has refused to step down from the case, despite concerns he has overstepped his boundaries and is taking sides.

Circuit Judge Hale R. Stancil on Monday denied a motion filed by State Attorney Brad King asking that the judge be disqualified from further involvement in the case. Read more

Chapter 256 Florida Statutes FLAGS

256.051 Improper use or mutilation of state or Confederate flag or emblem prohibited.—

(1) It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to copy, print, publish, or otherwise use the flag or state emblem of Florida, or the flag or emblem of the Confederate States, or any flag or emblem used by the Confederate States or the military or naval forces of the Confederate States at any time within the years 1860 to 1865, both inclusive, for the purpose of advertising, selling, or promoting the sale of any article of merchandise whatever within this state.

(2) It shall also be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to mutilate, deface, defile, or contemptuously abuse the flag or emblem of Florida or the flag or emblem of the Confederate States by any act whatever.

(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the use of any flag, standard, color, shield, ensign, or other insignia of Florida or of the Confederate States for decorative or patriotic purposes.

256.10 Mutilation of or disrespect for Confederate flags or replicas.—

No person shall publicly mutilate, deface, defile, defy, trample upon, or by word or act cast contempt upon the flags of the Confederacy, or replicas thereof, for crass or commercial purposes; provided however nothing contained herein shall be construed to prevent or prohibit the use of such flags for decorative or patriotic purposes.

NOTICE: The videos below are presented in the public interest. Justice Network has not reviewed these matters, and makes no opinion as to the claims presented.

Left: Base of Johnny Reb, the Marion County Florida Confederate soldier statute.

The statue displayed the Confederate flag shown May 30, 2015, author's photo.