Jim Rosica
Tallahassee attorney Benjamin Crump, known for representing the family of slain Florida teen Trayvon Martin, says he will host a series of “civic justice town halls” on college campuses across the country.
Crump, a prominent civil-rights lawyer with partner Daryl Parks, will co-host the forums with media personality Sheryl Underwood, according to a Tuesday news release from the National Bar Association.
Crump is the current president of the National Bar Association, the oldest and biggest organization of black lawyers and judges.
Underwood has appeared on the “Tom Joyner Morning Show,” the “Dr. Phil Show,” “Fox and Friends,” “The Joy Behar Show,” “The View,” and other programs.
The town halls will take place at historically black colleges and universities, the release said. Dates and locations have not yet been released. Among HBCUs in Florida are Bethune-Cookman University and Florida A&M University.
“As a community, we have to continue to look for new ways to engage our youth,” Crump said. “We plan to use these town hall meetings to not only educate and protect our youth, but to also strengthen the college-to-lawyer pipeline.”
Crump began gaining national attention in 2012, when he represented Martin’s family.
Martin was the 17-year-old unarmed black youth shot and killed by community watch volunteer George Zimmerman in Sanford in February of that year.
Zimmerman was later acquitted at trial in Martin’s death.
Crump also has represented the parents of Martin Lee Anderson, a 14-year-old who died at a sheriff’s office juvenile boot camp in 2006 in northwest Florida. The boot camp system was later disbanded.
Crump was involved in the case of Kendrick Johnson, a 17-year-old who was discovered dead inside a rolled-up wrestling mat in a Valdosta, Georgia high school gymnasium in 2013.
Crump claimed the death was suspicious and helped get federal prosecutors to open an investigation after local authorities closed the case.
