After Trayvon Martin, Crump became civil rights go-to lawyer
By CURT ANDERSON
Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Before Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor and other Black people died at the hands of white police officers or self-appointed vigilantes, there was Martin Lee Anderson. Anderson was a 14-year-old Black teen who died in 2006 after he was kicked and beaten by guards at a boot-camp juvenile facility in Florida. His family looked for a lawyer to seek justice. No white lawyers wanted to take it on. That was the first high-profile civil rights case for Florida attorney Ben Crump. Now, Crump is a familiar presence at almost every civil rights case around the country.