NORTHSIDE COALITION

An end could be near for the lengthy redistricting battle between the city of Jacksonville and several civil rights groups.

Four months after the President of the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville was arrested and charged with trespassing and resisting arrest after a city council meeting in December, it was announced Monday that the charges were dropped.

A new campaign announced Saturday, called Vote Local Now, is aimed at getting more people to the polls, especially African American voters.

Ben Frazier, of the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville, was arrested two months ago during a meeting of the City Council — and his case still hasn’t been heard.

As of Jan. 17, 11 homicides had been reported in Jacksonville for the year 2023 — and the president of the Northside Coalition, is urging city leaders to consider new ways to curb violent crime.

Ben Frazier, the leader of the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville, led a rally Tuesday evening and spoke in front of the city council for the first time since his removal in handcuffs from a December meeting.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is investigating a drive-by shooting that killed a 13-year-old boy and injured others in Northwest Jacksonville.

There was more reaction on Wednesday concerning how Jacksonville’s political landscape could change in the wake of a federal judge’s ruling.

A federal judge is considering whether to throw out Jacksonville’s newly-drawn city council and school board district map ahead of next year’s elections in March.

The Northside Coalition has filed a lawsuit Friday against the City of Jacksonville asking a judge to throw out the city council’s redistricting map.

The shooting deaths of ten people in Buffalo is hitting many people hard in Jacksonville, and Monday a local group is demanding action against all racist actions.

Civil rights groups have filed a lawsuit demanding the Jacksonville City Council “start over” on recently approved boundary lines.

The Northside Coalition and other groups held a demonstration at City Hall Monday morning -- saying they are concerned about the new congressional redistricting maps.

It’s likely that the topic of Jacksonville’s remaining Confederate monuments will lead the discussion during public comment Tuesday evening at city council’s biweekly meeting.

The Northside Coalition of Jacksonville, the most outspoken civil rights organization in the River City, is renewing its push to bring down a Confederate monument that sits in Springfield Park.

Following hours of public comment and discussion, the Jacksonville City Council voted at its meeting Tuesday evening to withdraw an ordinance to spend $1.3 million to remove a Confederate moment that sits in Springfield Park.

Bad weather didn’t stop a protest in front of City Hall Friday morning by members of Take 'Em Down Jax who are upset about a Confederate moment still standing in a Springfield park. That statue is likely to remain in place despite legislation introduced by Mayor Lenny Curry to have it removed.

For weeks, the Northside Collation of Jacksonville has been pressing the city follow through with the removal of all remaining Confederate monuments, and on Tuesday, the organization held another rally outside City Hall.

Three members of the Jacksonville City Council say they support the removing of the Confederate monument at Springfield Park, which it was recently revealed could cost more than $1 million to do.

About two dozen people with the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville gathered Tuesday at City Hall to call for the removal of all Confederate monuments in the city.

Members of the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville and other people rallied Wednesday at City Hall to call for the removal of a Confederate monument.

The Duval County School Board will hold an emergency meeting at 2 p.m. Monday to discuss COVID-19 mitigation measures.

Northside Coalition of Jacksonville, other groups call for rollback of Gov. DeSantis administration policy on Instruction Planning and Reporting

There’s another call for a citizen review board to oversee police shootings and actions by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

About a dozen members of the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville and members of the faith community plan to observe events during the Orange Crush Festival over the weekend.

Take ‘Em Down Jacksonville’ rallied on the steps of City Hall on Tuesday telling Mayor Lenny to keep his promise to remove all the Confederate statues in Jacksonville.

On this edition of “This Week in Jacksonville,” Northside Coalition President Ben Frazier and Jacksonville Fraternal Order of Police President Steve Zona each discuss the impact of the guilty verdict in the Derek Chauvin verdict. Then Jacksonville University Public Policy Institute Director Rick Mullaney joins the show as Jacksonville Transportation Authority CEO Nat Ford and Jacksonville Civil Council Chairman John Delaney each discuss the city’s infrastructure needs and the proposed gas tax increase.

Dozens of people flooded the Duval County School board meeting Tuesday evening, taking the name change fight to the decision makers.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Demonstrators gathered outside the Duval County School Board building Tuesday evening as the debate over whether to rename nine schools continues. The name change meetings are over so these rallies will happen every Tuesday. During a meeting of Jefferson Davis Middle School’s advisory board Tuesday evening, eight members of the board submitted votes. Four were in favor of renaming the school Westside Middle School, the other four were for calling it Charger Academy. LINK: Duval County Public Schools’ ‘school name change tracker’By May 12, DCPS says, ballots will be made available for constituents to vote on a preferred name.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Northside Coalition and other members of the Jacksonville community gathered Monday afternoon ahead of a meeting, rallying for a name change at Robert E. Lee High School. pic.twitter.com/D7DATGJe60 — Brie Isom (@BrieIsomWJXT) March 15, 2021Some of the names suggested during the Monday meeting included Avondale High School or Riverside High School. There’s a group of alumni from Lee High School are pushing to keep the school’s name, saying that Lee High has too much history to be renamed. It’s about Southern pride,” Lee High School alumnus Joey Steves said previously. Jackson High, Ribault High, and Ribault Middle schools were added to the list in early August.

Four schools had meetings Wednesday, including Lee High School, where demonstrators gathered ahead of the 6 p.m. discussion. “Stop Playing games change the names” is what a group of protesters are chanting outside Lee High School. News4Jax spoke with Mykyla Hooper, who was named Miss Lee High School. AdLeon Barrett, a former coach and player at the high school, says it’s history that shouldn’t be erased. ”The money will drop out from the alumni and I’d hate to see that happen.”Also at the school was the group Save the School Names.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Duval County Public Schools is hosting another in series of community meetings over renaming Robert E. Lee High School, Stonewall Jackson and Joseph Finegan Elementary School, and Jefferson Davis Middle School. At least one organized group, Save The School Names, plans to attend the meeting and advocate for keeping Robert E. Lee the name of the high school. (An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that Save The School Names would protest outside. The district is following a step-by-step process, as follows:The first step which is on-going, schools considering a name change are holding community meetings to gather feedback. The advisory committee creates a list of possible names for the school community to vote on.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A local activist is sharing his concerns over a Jacksonville City Council member’s proposal to add restrictions for unlawful gatherings. Ben Fraizer with the Northside Coalition feels it could lead to discrimination and unnecessary arrests in the Black community. Pittman is now proposing adding restrictions for unlawful gatherings to an anti-loitering law that has been in place since 1970. We need to get together all the shareholders, the public sector, the private sector and the community itself. Pittman said there is a public notice meeting where the proposal will be discussed on Oct. 28 at 4 p.m.

“The major problems involve racial issues, the city budget and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.”The activists want more oversight from the City Council of JSO’s budget spending. “The city council should establish new methods to evaluate how effectively JSO is spending the lion’s share of our city funds,” said Ben Frazier, founder of the Northside Coalition. The city has broken promises and ignored the needs of Black neighborhoods for more than 50 years.”In addition to that demand, the groups say the City Council should:Create a police accountability council to review police investigations. “The People’s Budget calls on the city to reallocate and reinvest money from the proposed half-billion dollar budget for JSO,” said Christina Kittle with the JCAC. That budget will be voted on by City Council before the end of the month.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. About 200 activists and supporters gathered Saturday afternoon in the large grass field near the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office headquarters to protest racial injustice and demand police reform. Organizers said their demands cover concerns about law enforcement and the criminal justice system as well as racial and economic issues. The protest was a drive-in rally to allow for social distancing, and hundreds of protesters, most wearing masks, gathered to voice their concerns. The drive-in protest was spearheaded by the JCAC and the Northside Coalition. (WJXT)The recurring racial attacks by police officers prove theres a pressing need for police reforms, JCAC spokesman Michael Sampson said.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Several consecutive nights of violent crime in Jacksonville have some asking questions about what is and isnt working to combat the citys crime problem. Ben Frazier, a community activist and president of the Northside Coalition advocacy group, doesnt think the citys current approach to reining in violent crime is working. The citys effort to reduce gun violence needs creative leadership and a good swift kick in the budget, Frazier said Friday. He said some of the funding allocated for the Sheriffs Office, which represents a significant chunk of the city budget, should be shifted to other programs. Sheriff Mike Williams addressed some of those issues Thursday when he met with City Council members to discuss the city budget.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. The Northside Coalition and the Jacksonville Community Action Committee are demanding a city budget for the people and police accountability. On Saturday, there was a drive-up protest, with cars filling the parking lot across the street from the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office headquarters. People painted Peoples budget now on car windows and held signs saying So no to JSO budget.Ben Frazier with the Northside Coalition called the proposed budget weak and said it lacks the strength needed to revitalize underserved and marginalized communities. Consider this: By reallocating the JSO money proposed by the mayor by about 25% would actually free up $100 million. We want to see that money used for social and community services like a comprehensive mental health care response team.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. The Northside Coalition, a local community advocacy organization, is calling for Mayor Lenny Curry to defund the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office. The call comes after Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams last week asked for $6 million more in the JSO budget. RELATED: Activists react after JSO asks for $500M in fundingBen Frazier, of the Northside Coalition, said the current JSO budget is massively overweight, inflated and ineffective. He said money allocated to JSO should be reinvested to fund community service and resources. The City Council, the mayor and the sheriff should redirect the public safety budget to be more focused on prevention and intervention, Frazier said. All communities should address poverty, education and infrastructure but taking money from public safety to accomplish this goal is a fast track to a less safe city, the statement reads, in part.

A local activist is demanding that the Duval County Public Schools remove the names of confederate generals from all public schools in the district. Ben Frazier of the Northside Coalition said the names of prominent confederates should be removed and new names should be established based on feedback from the public. Northside Coalition requests for name changes are being made in conjunction with established Duval County school board policy," Frazier said in a statement. "That policy clearly states that A request to change a schools name can come from students, parents, alumni, or the community serving that school.Frazier said that one of the major goals of the confederacy was to keep and perpetuate slavery, and listed Robert E. Lee High School, J.E.B Middle School, Stonewall Jackson Elementary School, Joseph Finegan Elementary School and Jefferson Davis Middle School as schools that should remove names. The Duval County Public Schools board states that the superintendent or any school board member can submit a written request to the school board to change a name and that community input is desired and highly valued, but the board has final authority over the name of any school.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. On this edition of This Week in Jacksonville, Ben Frazier, of the Northside Coalition, talks about dealing with race-related issues. Jacksonville City Councilman Rory Diamond explains where the JEA investigation stands. And former prosecutor and Jacksonville Universitys Public Policy Institute Director Rick Mullaney breaks down the case against the former officers charged in the death of George Floyd.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Faith leaders in Jacksonville gathered Wednesday on the steps of the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office to call for justice and peace after the death of George Floyd. During what they called a prayer conference, the leaders of several faiths leaders kneeled for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the time video shows a Minneapolis police officer kept his knee on Floyds neck on Memorial Day. Ben Frazier with the Northside Coalition, with the Northside Coalition that organized Saturdays peaceful rally in Jacksonville that was followed by vandalism and attacks on police, joined the faith leaders. Frazier also called for an honest dialogue with city leaders, including the mayor, sheriff and State Attorneys Office. We have a great racial divide in this city and people are looking the other way, Frazier said.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Dozens came together at Lonnie Miller Park in Jacksonville Sunday for a peace festival hosted by the Northside Coalition. The goal is to reduce violence and promote peace in their... Copyright 2019 by WJXT News4Jax - All rights reserved.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Dozens came together at Lonnie Miller Park in Jacksonville Sunday for a peace festival hosted by the Northside Coalition. The goal is to reduce violence and promote peace in their neighborhoods. The first event like this one was held in 1973, and the Northside Coalition has resurrected it to challenge the norm of gun violence in the city. The peace festival comes just days after the Mayor gave an update on efforts to curve murders in Jacksonville. Frazier said the purpose was for all people to come together for one purpose to celebrate peace in the city.