Duanna Johnson, Transgender Day of Remembrance, and Memphis/Shelby County Jail

TODAY has been declared the Duanna Johnson, Transgender Day of Remembrance, beginning a week to remember people lost to anti-transgender violence and hold Prop. 8 rallies.  Persons in the gay, bisexual and transgender community and their supporters will gather and rally for change.   The following announcement was made by the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition.

******************************

Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition

For Immediate Release: Dated November 14, 2008

http://www.transgenderdor.org

http://ttgpac.com 

Duanna Johnson, Transgender Day of Remembrance, and Prop. 8 Rallies 

Over the next week, a series of events will take place across Tennessee highlighting the incredible violence and discrimination that members of Tennessee's transgender, lesbian, gay, and bisexual community face everyday. (See link above for entire announcement.)

******************************

DUANNA JOHNSON was found dead, shot execution-style, a few blocks from her home on Nov. 9. Her murder occurred months after her video beating by officers at Shelby County Jail in Memphis, Tennessee headlined news across the country. Duanna Johnson was a transgender person. As such, she was considered intolerably abnormal by many people, and undeserving of civil rights. After her apparent police abuse, Duanna contracted with Murray Wells, Esq. to represent her against Shelby County Jail. I could have told Ms. Johnson that lawsuits against that correctional facility do not usually work out, especially for folks considered in any way "abnormal."  See:    http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com

Larry Neal, my mentally ill brother, was held under secret arrest in Shelby County Jail for 18 days until his death on August 1, 2003. To date, all efforts to get any accountability for his demise have been road blocked. The Johnnie Cochran Firm, which we contracted with to be my family's wrongful death attorneys, actually worked on behalf of the jail to prevent our bringing suit. In fact, the managing partner of The Cochran Firm's Memphis office, Julian Bolton, Esq., was himself a 20+year Shelby County Commissioner, and the Commission owns and operates the jail where Larry met his mysterious death. I suppose we got off easy with suffering only lawyer fraud compared to Ms. Johnson's fate (which is certainly not to say her death was connected to her lawsuit).

Read about the wrongful death of Larry Neal and the subsequent cover-up at this link to an OpEdNews article: http://www.opednews.com/articles/Mentally-Ill-Patient-s-Sec-by-Mary-Neal-080802-527.html

After Shelby County Jail was enabled by The Cochran Firm's fraud to escape accountability regarding Larry's secret arrest and death in that facility, and after the USDOJ refused to conduct any investigation in the matter (despite its overview position following prior suit against the jail by the USA), there were at least two subsequent lawsuits filed alleging abuse one alleging wrongful death of mentally ill prisoners of Memphis Police and/or Shelby County Jail (2005 and 2006): One was man beaten to death, one man was shot 21 times, and one young boy of age 13, who was both mentally ill and retarded, was allegedly locked in the adult facility with the general population. There may have been other incidents of abuse, and even secret deaths, but not all mentally ill people have family members to sue for them.  In fact, it is not unusual for the mentally ill to wind up homeless with no contact with their families whatsoever.  The three cases that were filed were to be represented by the same attorney, but that did not turn out well either, to my understanding. Their attorney filed the lawsuits and promptly had a heart attack. As far as I know, their cases are still stalled - two years later. See:  http://braxtonandfriends.org/index.html

If I had been able to contact Ms. Johnson, and I did try through various online gay/lesbian/transgender groups, I could have told her to be very careful. My family sued the Johnnie Cochran Firm in USDC, Northern District of Georgia in December 2007 for defrauding my family regarding Larry's wrongful death case against Shelby County Jail. Federal court did not simply dismiss our case like Judge Wendy Shoob did when we sued in 2005 in Georgia Superior Court (her order stated there was no such thing as an Atlanta office of The Johnnie Cochran Firm, where we served suit). Subsequent to the federal court's refusal to dismiss our lawsuit as defendants wanted, I have had quite a frightening year! This is not to say definitely that my frightening year is related to our civil action.

I became accustomed to being followed, as this has been happening all year. However, things really got intense about a month ago when I was followed by four vehicles and a US DOT truck to my neighborhood Chevron station while out with my young grandson. It appeared the men were no longer trying to hide the fact that they were after me, as they did in past months. I stayed in the store calling Emergency 911 and I called family members to come and save me. My niece came immediately, but when we started to leave, the US DOT truck was driving right behind us! We decided not to leave, and re-parked. So did the US DOT truck. The Chevron station ordeal lasted for about an hour. During that time, none of the men or vehicles left. In fact, they boldly got out of their vehicles and were just milling around looking at me. I suppose they may have already known that DeKalb County, Georgia 911 Emergency Services would ignore my emergency call and send no police. That is exactly what happened. Some customers were scared for me and volunteered to wait in their cars until 911 came - no show!  Eventually my son-in-law arrived, and we finally felt there were enough of us to safely leave. No one followed us. I believe only the grace of God and my family coming to save my grandson and me got us away from that Chevron station safely.

My niece in Memphis who took a friend to serve the suit to The Cochran Firm's Memphis office was thereafter fired from her government job without explanation (she was still on probation, so none was necessary), and she reports she was later visited by two men who represented themselves as being FBI agents inquiring about nude dancing, of all things!  We think it was harassment.

After that fright, I made two videos for protection on YouTube, called The Cochran Firm Fraud 1 and 2. Here are links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1ltCpy1uu0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ5d_wju2M8

When faced with something really exasperating, my grandmother used to say, "It's something else!" What an apt expression. I have worked in the legal field for 15 years and never encountered, read about, or seen on film the kinds of things that occur when one tries to sue the Shelby County Jail in Memphis, Tennessee. (But, of course, it could all be coincidence and have nothing whatsoever to do with our lawsuit.)

The story of Larry Neal's wrongful death has met with complete mainstream media blackout, no assistance by authorities, trickery by plaintiffs' attorneys, strange rulings by a judge - awesome, amazing things. I've been followed, surrounded at several places of business in my neighborhood, had my electronic communications impaired, emails deleted, and Microsoft reported to me that I am not the administrator of my own computer when I asked the firm to activate additional firewalls and other security measures on my computer. Microsoft could not help me. I then found a remote access system by NOS Microsystems Ltd. among my programs, but emails asking that company for the removal code went unanswered. Several microphones show in my bottom right window at all times, and I cannot close the microphone feature. That is likely how people knew whenever I planned to leave home - the microphones.

After one particularly frightening evening, I thought it best to cross-post my videos to other sites. I found this necessary because at YouTube, strange things were occurring. Many people told me their comments were not allowed to post, the hits counter gets stuck, a lying statement is posted after my videos saying they were made in response to some video I never even heard of -- amazing! Those videos were made in response to a real life drama, not a video. Therefore, I copied the videos onto Y! Video (a Yahoo service), and what do you think happened? Someone apparently posted a video as a response to mine that is about a nice woman who died. I take that as a death threat, especially in view of all that has happened and the fact that NO OTHER videos were posted with mine except that morbid one. See at this link.
http://video.yahoo.com/search/?p=mary+neal&t=video

When I first noticed I was being followed in January and February this year, after serving suit to The Cochran Firm, I thought someone wanted to intimidate me. (I have no idea who.) Certainly with Duanne's death, I am not so sure mere intimidation was the entire plan.I never used to write about being followed in my articles, because it speaks of paranoia to some. But Cochran Firm attorney Angela Mason set me free! I wrote to her along with 2,000 other people one night last winter when I made it home from a particularly harrowing ordeal, and she wrote the judge in our case and complained about my email. I described the culprit as a Caucasian man in a van. When Atty. Mason wrote the Court and complained about my email to her, SHE SUPPLIED THE COLOR OF THE VAN, stating that the Cochran Firm attorney had not hired a Caucasian man in a WHITE van to follow me. Wonder how she knew the color of the vehicle? Do they teach ESP in law school? If they do teach ESP in law school, maybe someone should ask Ms. Mason what happened to Duanna Johnson, also. Police are looking for leads, and police have been known to use psychics before, I understand.

See the court docket for our case, which is available to those with a PACER account, and see docket no. 22, final paragraph: http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-gandce/case_no-1:2007cv01935/case_id-145173/

I have been reading comments online about Ms. Johnson's death. Many people feel like her murder deserves a federal investigation. I say to them, good luck on that. We have been begging and petitioning the USDOJ to please do its job and investigate Larry's death for years now, but no dice. See our second petition here and read the comments:

Petition for a federal investigation into the death of a handicapped American, held under secret arrest until death - no records, no investigation to date - five years later! http://www.petitiononline.com/Neal/petition.html

I find interesting the total lack of concern with justice other police officers showed during the attack on Duanna Johnson. Their apparent disinterest is evident when one looks at the video of the incident, which occurred while Johnson was in the jail's intake area. Do you think they are accustomed to such violence against people who are deemed unacceptably "different"?  Johnson reported that Officer McRae said to her, "Hey, he/she, come over here." Johnson reported that when she did not respond to that insult, McRae beat and maced her, and another officer held her still for the brutality. The video shows other law officers did nothing to intervene with an inmate being abused in their plain view. A nurse later appeared on the scene and attended to McRae's hand, ignoring Johnson. Weeks after beating Johnson, McRae threatened to sue for damages to his hand that allegedly occurred while beating Johnson - an "on the job injury."

See the raw footage of the incident at this link and interviews with Ms. Johnson:  http://www.lgbthatecrimes.org/doku.php/duanna-johnson  

Duanna Johnson's attorneys sent a demand letter for $1.3 million to her defendants, but never filed suit. According to a report, Attorney Wells stated that Johnson's death will not stop her civil action from going forward.
http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=6ed84a35-3a48-42dc-8628-9cd169c0dda7

I thought Wells had filed suit for Johnson months ago. I wondered when I read a month ago that Johnson had been arrested again for prostitution why she did not get a loan on her civil action. Now I know - one must have a suit filed in order to qualify for loans. Too bad Wells was slow. Hopefully, he had good reason for delay. I found it alarming when I called Wells' law firm in June and the recorded greeting answered for the firm of Wells and Julian Bolton, Esq., which was the name of The Cochran Firm's attorney who was a County Commissioner over the jail where Larry Neal died and where Duanna Johnson was badly beaten.  It must have been a different Julian Bolton, Esq.   I hung up the phone and said, "Poor Duanna." May God rest her soul and comfort her family. Duanne was not the first non-heterosexual person to try to sue Shelby County Jail. A group of inmates tried a class action suit in 1987: http://www.danpinello.com/GayInmates.htm. 

The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition's Duanna Johnson, Transgender Day of Rememberence today and Prop. 8 rallies next week will highlight the violence and discrimination targeting Tennessee's transgender, lesbian, gay, and bisexual community.  "Liberty and justice for all" is the law of the land.  Unfortunately, many Americans have trouble respecting that, even some law officers.

Duanna Johnson's funeral in Memphis is scheduled for Saturday, November 15.  The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition is helping her family cover funeral expenses.  People who would like to assist are asked to make payments through PayPal at a donation page on the group's website:   http://ttgpac.com.  Donations can also be sent directly to the funeral home with a memo saying "the care of Duanna Johnson's funeral expenses."

N.J. Ford and Sons Funeral Home
12 S Parkway W.
Memphis, TN 38109
(901) 948-7755

Perhaps things would have been different if I could have reached Ms. Johnson, but none of the media supplied her contact information after her beating. I always provide mine in case some kind jail guard or fellow inmate of Larry's wants to talk to his family and stop his 86-year-old mother's nightmares regarding all the possible scenarios under which Larry Neal may have died in Shelby County Jail.

If you read this all the way through, thank you.  I wanted to make sure to include all I know and all I think I kinow, so as not to be a threat to anyone.  Now here is my question:  IS THE NEW WORLD ORDER HERE ALREADY?

************************

UPDATE from Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition

Dated November 15, 2008

Yesterday afternoon, the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition issued a special appeal on behalf of the family of Duanna Johnson to help them cover funeral expenses.  In only four hours, nearly two hundred people responded by opening their hearts and their wallets.  You donated over $5,300 to the fund.  We are still counting the final figures, but not only will this cover the costs of the funeral, but all of the remaining money is being given directly to the family to use as they see fit. 

We realize your donations will not ease the pain of Duanna's tragic loss to her family, but you have sent a message to the world that the lives of transgender people matter, and that we appreciate Duanna's fight for respect.

************************

Mary Neal

Website:  http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com

My page: http://www.care2.com/c2c/people/profile.html?pid=513396753