TALLAHASSEE – Hundreds of survivors of violent crime are expected to be at the Florida Capitol on Tuesday to demand that lawmakers pass policies that will help them grieve and help them find support.
Aswad Thomas was shot in the back. His athletic career — destroyed.
“I was shot in 2009 just after becoming the first male in my family to attend college, and I was also on my way to play professional basketball overseas when I was shot in my back leaving a corner store in my neighborhood in Hartford, Connecticut,” Thomas said.
Thomas has turned his tragedy into motivation to get more help for other survivors of gun violence.
He hopes to make changes in Tallahassee that will help thousands. On Tuesday, he and 400 survivors of crime will rally at the Capitol.
“Families across the state need help, need healing. So we have about 20 legislative visits,” Thomas said.
Among the survivors will be Jacksonville resident Nakesa Barnhill, whose 2-year-old son, Amari, was murdered by his father by way of child abuse. That father is now serving a 25-year prison sentence.
Barnhill said her boy would have turned 10 years old this year. She said being an advocate for fellow survivors is a mission she is grateful for. She said the support means everything.
“It makes my heart feel overwhelmed and so pure and grateful,” Barnhill said. “Let our voices be heard. This is literally a victim-centered bill, or survivor-centered bill. To be able to ask for change and sort of common-sense change.”
Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice is a national network of crime survivors, including more than 8,000 members across Florida, joining together to create healing communities and shape public safety policy.
The goal is to get survivors of violence unpaid time off to grieve and heal.
Through state bills they want to:
- Create three days of unpaid leave to families of homicide victims
- Improve the state’s probation system to expand alternatives to prison
- Allow sealing of arrest records that don’t lead to convictions on the county level
“The ultimate goal is to make sure that crime survivors across the state get access to services and resource,” Thomas said.
Thomas says Florida needs more public safety solutions because some communities most impacted by crime are not getting the help they need. Thomas and others believe these state bills will help as victims overcome trauma, PTSD and a life that is changed forever because of violence.