TAMPA -- Eight years after his death at age 14, the parents of Andrew Joseph III are going to federal court in a civil rights case. A judge will hear their case against the Florida State Fair and the Hillsborough Sheriff over his death in 2014 in a traffic crash.
Joseph was running across Interstate 4, a couple of hours after being ejected from the Florida State Fair for disorderly conduct on student day. He was part of a crowd of about a hundred suspected of rushing the midway and starting fights. According to the family, a deputy escorted Joseph out of the fair and let him out at a gate at the back of the fairgrounds. Joseph wasn't charged with a crime.
Joseph's family will have supporters close by during the trial, as Black Lives Matter and restorative justice groups are planning rallies outside the courthouse at noon, each day of the trial. Dr. Melina Abdullah of Black Lives Matter Grassroots in Los Angeles, is traveling to Tampa for the proceedings. "We're going to stand with them, and demand justice in Andrew's name, demand accountability in Andrew's name," she said during an interview.
Angel D'Angelo of the Restorative Justice Coalition grew up in the Tampa Bay area and has been staying in touch with the Joseph family. "I would say their spirit is very strong, and they are feeling the support and hearing the support (from the community)," D'Angelo said.
Pastor Carl Soto, representing Black Lives Matter - Restoration Polk, says the trial is to "demand accountability, so this would not happen again." He says the beginning of a trial is a milestone, given "the nightmares that these parents have had to endure over these past eight years, the disrespect that they have had to face."
The Hillsborough Sheriff's Office directed questions to legal counsel. Attorney Bob Fulton of Hill, Ward, Henderson says in a statement, "we intend to try the case in the courtroom where the jury will be able to evaluate the facts and all of the evidence."
The Florida State Fair isn't commenting on the lawsuit.
Listen to an interview with Abdullah, Soto and D'Angelo below.
Photo: Canva