Ocala Gazette | January 12 - January 18, 2024

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Read the State of the State

VOLUME 5 ISSUE 2

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Pg A8

JANUARY 12 - JANUARY 18, 2024

Jubilee event held in Ocala

Why wasn’t Albert Shell in jail instead of at the Paddock Mall on Dec. 23? By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com

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Clockwise from left: Katelyn McCullough, 10, recites the Emancipation Litany, a faith-based writing that details famous persons, Constitutional amendments and other events related to the struggle for civil rights by people of color in America. The reading was part of the 2024 NAACP Jubilee held Jan. 7 at Mount Zion AME Church in Ocala. Speakers, from left, included Bishop James D. Stockton, III, president of NAACP Marion County Branch 5114; Bishop Frank Madison Reid, III, presiding prelate, 11th African Methodist Episcopal District, which covers Florida and the Bahamas; Rev. Rhella Murdaugh, pastor of Mount Zion A.M.E. Church; and Rev. Jerone Gamble, 1st vice president Branch 5114. Reid addresses the gathering. [Andy Fillmore/Ocala Gazette]

Branch 5114 of the NAACP hosted the program in honor of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com

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he annual NAACP Jubilee event on Jan. 7 in Ocala marked the 161st anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and called for action to ensure continued freedoms. The gathering was held at the 158-year-old Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church, with the Rev. Rhella Murdaugh, serving as emcee. The theme of the event was Protecting Our Right to

Vote and several speakers stressed the importance of registering and voting. Marion County NAACP Chapter 5114 President Bishop James D. Stockton III told those gathered that their vote is their “voice.” The program included rousing hymns sung by the Central Annual Conference Choir, addresses by several local clergy, interpretive dance and a recitation of the Emancipation Proclamation and Emancipation Litany by members of the NAACP

Youth Council. The gathering also celebrated the 100th anniversary of Marion County Branch 5114 of the NAACP. Rev. Jerone Gamble, first vice president of the local branch and extension director of the United Theological Seminary, called the Jan. 1, 1863, issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation “Black Independence Day.” Gamble said the administration of the state of Florida is taking “extensive steps to be sure the history of Black people is not taught in

(public) schools” and using “racist dog whistles like … critical race theory and stop woke for division and support.” “The African American community must teach our own history (and) make teaching Black history a national movement,” Gamble said. Gamble spoke about “building upon the foundation” of local civil rights pioneers and community activists such as Edward Daniel Davis, a member of the Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame who fought See Annual, page A3

Water rate ‘discrimination’ draws debate By Jim Saunders Florida News Service

of those particular services,” Rep. Chuck Clemons, R-Newberry, said before the

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n an issue that could affect cities across the state, Florida House members Wednesday started moving forward with a proposal aimed at preventing municipalities from charging higher water and sewer rates to customers who live outside city boundaries. The proposal (HB 777), sponsored by Rep. Robbie Brackett, R-Vero Beach, comes after similar debates last year about municipal utilities, including electric utilities. Supporters of making changes argue that utility customers who live outside municipal boundaries can face higher costs—without being able to vote for city leaders who set rates and make other utility decisions. “I think to boil this down to what Rep. Brackett is trying to do is to eliminate discrimination between ratepayers who are living inside a municipality and the ones that are not inside the municipality and (are) covered by this same provider

House Energy, Communications & See Water, page A2

File photo: Rep. Chuck Clemons, R-Newberry, pointed to concerns about “discrimination” against utility customers outside municipal boundaries. [Colin Hackley]

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ith the arrest early Monday of Albert Shell Jr., the suspect identified by the Ocala Police Department in the Dec. 23 shooting at the Paddock Mall that left one person dead and another wounded, among the many questions for authorities is why such a violent criminal, wanted on several warrants, was at the crowded mall and not in the county jail. Shell, 39, is accused of shooting to death Ocala tattoo artist David Barron, 40, and wounding a woman bystander in the leg, He was arrested on one count of premeditated first-degree murder and one count of attempted premeditated first-degree murder. Records show Shell has had numerous interactions with local law enforcement, and was wanted on a county warrant. OPD said of Shell, “We show 145 contacts with Albert Shell in our database—dating back many years. More than one of those contacts were warrant arrests.” Walter Forgie, spokesperson for Fifth Circuit State Attorney Bill Gladson, emailed the “Gazette” that “Shell has a lengthy criminal history, which has resulted in numerous convictions, jail sentences and prison sentences by our office. The defendant was most recently released from prison on 7/15/21.” Two criminal cases against Shell were dropped in February and March of 2023. Why? One of the charges, for aggravated battery with great bodily harm, “was not prosecuted because the victim failed to cooperate with prosecution,’’ Forgie wrote the “Gazette.” “Our office sent several intake notices and personally served the victim with a subpoena; however, the victim repeatedly refused to appear or participate in any way with the prosecution.” The second case, involving charges of grand theft and burglary of a structure, “was not prosecuted at the request of the family because they were not 100 percent sure the defendant was the person who committed the crime,” according to Forgie. In July and September of 2023, Shell would be charged with other violent offenses. He failed to appear in court in October, and County Judge Thomas “Tommy” Thompson signed a warrant for Shell’s arrest. That warrant, likely written by a court clerk or the state attorney’s office, had an address within city limits that does not exist. There are more than 7,000 active warrants in Marion County, See Shell, page A2

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