Pfc. LaVena Johnson » Petitions

Philip Barron — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:35:28 +0000

Gregg Reese, contributor to the Los Angeles-based Our Weekly, has written on the case of PFC LaVena Johnson. The article provides an informative snapshot of the background behind LaVena’s death, autopsy findings and official statements, accounts of Congressional efforts that have thus far fallen short of results, and a broader look at the issue of

Press release from ColorofChange.org

Philip Barron — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:14:18 +0000

This week, advocacy group ColorofChange.org sent out a press release regarding LaVena Johnson and the petition to Rep Henry Waxman to a number of media and activist organizations. Readers here are encouraged to copy and send the text below to such news outlets and other parties which may be interested. As of yesterday, the petition’s signature count stood at 53,134 names.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

50,000 sign ColorOfChange.org Petition for Hearing into LaVena Johnson’s Death
Womens’ and veterans’ groups join campaign to urge US Rep. Henry Waxman to lead Congressional investigation into potential US Army coverup of rape-murders

Oakland, CA

Post-migration site issues

Philip Barron — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:14:08 +0000

This weekend, I discovered a couple of malfunctions in the website that resulted at least indirectly from this site’s move from Blogger to WordPress. The first involved incomplete posts – about ten percent of the entries on the site were oddly truncated, cut off after the first few lines. I can only think that this was an unintended result of the recent upgrade to the latest version of WordPress and its upgrade of the site’s database. Fortunately, I had archived versions of the shortened posts and was able to restore them.

The second miscue involved non-working links to files created by me – mini-pages that list contact information for the members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees (as on this page). Those mini-pages appeared as pop-ups when the links were clicked, but that was when the site was hosted on Blogger, where the JavaScript resided that made it possible. I have a solution in hand for this issue, however, ~~and will apply it as soon as time allows.~~ Note: the links have all been corrected.

Danielle Vyas calls for justice

Philip Barron — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 13:58:43 +0000

Danielle Vyas, an activist and the author of ModernMusings.com, first learned of the story of LaVena Johnson via Electronic Village and immediately set about spreading the word. She submitted the story to the Care2 network of activists and added it to stumble, and digg, casting for the widest audience possible. After learning of the original petition to the two Armed Services Committees calling for a renewed investigation of LaVena’s death, Vyas decided to take similar direct action. She launched a petition of her own – her very first – based at the Care2 petition site. Addressed to both houses of Congress and President Bush, the petition calls for a re-investigation of the LaVena Johnson case and full disclosure. Below, the text of the petition appeal:

We the undersigned, urge you to reopen an investigation on the death of Ms. LaVena Johnson. Ms. Johnson, a 19 year old private stationed in Iraq died in July of 2005. Upon her death, the army declared that Ms. Johnson’s death was self inflicted.

Due to the dedicated investigation of Dr. J. Johnson, further evidence has been found from the autopsy of Ms. Johnson’s body and from the barracks where her body was found.

This evidence includes a blood trail leading toward where her body was found, signs that a perpetrator attempted to burn both the barracks and her body, signs of physical struggle in the form of two loose front teeth as well as a bruised lip which had to be reconstructed by the funeral home which attended to her body.

When Dr. J. Johnson presented this new evidence the response he received from the military is that the case is closed.

We urge you, in the name of democracy, in the name of justice, in the name of civic honor to reopen the investigation of Ms. Johnson’s death and fully disclose all findings.

Ms. Johnson was an honor roll student, who straight from high school enlisted herself voluntarily into the army. If her sacrifice is to be honored in action, her death must be thoroughly investigated and if it is found that Ms. Johnson was murdered that the perpetrator be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

Rebuilding the morale of our military, of our citizens and our country demands real answers.

We thank you, in advance, for your focused consideration and commitment to justice.

Dyas has set an original goal of 1,000 signatures for the effort, but that target was so swiftly reached that she revised the goal upwards to 3,000 names. Again, that goal has been exceeded; as of this writing, the number of signatories to the Vyas petition stands at 3,197.

The goal more than achieved, Vyas is now arranging a meeting with Rep. Shelley Berkley in which the petition will be presented. She calls for concerned citizens to sign the ColorofChange-sponsored petition to Rep. Henry Waxman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Note: A few words from Danielle Vyas herself!

I found out about the tragedy surrounding the death of Private Ms. LaVena Johnson for the first time from my good friend and fellow net activist Wayne Hicks of the Electronic Village. I was outraged at the military deeming Ms. Johnson’s death a suicide when there was so much physical evidence to the contrary. Broken teeth, bruised lips, blood trails, evidence of arson and even rape warrants an in depth investigation surrounding the loss of potential that 19 year old LaVena undeniably had to offer the world.

I, immediately, began researching deeper and came upon Philip Barron’s independent efforts toward achieving accountable justice for Ms. Johnson and noted that his successful petition had closed. Putting two and two together, with an increase of attention given to Ms. Johnson’s death and no active petition at that time decided to write and promote my first petition. I had to turn my outrage into action.

Many of us on the internet and blogging have gathered “friends” in various social networks. I decided to take advantage of my connections to both share Ms. Johnson’s case and the petition. Thanks to others who used the power of their voice, we met the first goal of 1000 signatures in a few weeks. I then increased the goal due to the great response to 3000 signatures.

Last week, we exceeded our goal of 3000 signatures and to date have 3,250 collected signatures. I instantly thought what next, how will I use the power of over 3000 people and have decided to arrange a meeting with my Representative Shelley Berkley of Nevada and hand deliver the signatures along with a small crew of local activists. When the meeting occurs we will be recording the event and will spread it virally through the internet.

Gabriel Rey- Goodlate of the organization Color of Change caught the increased buzz surrounding the Justice for LaVena Johnson campaign and started their own campaign sending out an email to their members and have gathered over 50,000 signatures.

This has been an amazing personal journey. I have learned without a doubt that we must turn our outrage into action. I am not a professional activist. I have never made a petition before and have never even met my Representative in person. If I am able to do it, anyone can.

Ms. LaVena Johnson deserves to be honored with a reinvestigation into the circumstances of her death which is the ultimate goal.

I sincerely thank Philip Barron, Wayne Hicks, Gabriel Rey- Goodlate and everyone who signed and forwarded the petition and to those who spread the campaign to their audiences.

Danielle Vyas
ModernMusings.com

Status note on Care2 petition for LaVena

Philip Barron — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:57:00 +0000

A quick check of the Justice for LaVena Johnson petition authored by activist Danielle Vyas and hosted at the Care2 petition site – addressed to Congress and the President – shows that it is just 45 signatures shy of its goal of 3000! Excellent work, Danielle! If you haven’t stopped by to lend your name to the list, please take a couple of minutes to do so.

ColorofChange.org launches LaVena petition

Philip Barron — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:27:00 +0000

The online grassroots organization ColorofChange.org, a black advocacy group founded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, has lent its support to the family of LaVena Johnson. The group has launched a new petition addressed to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and its chairman, Representative Henry Waxman. From the petition page:

Justice for LaVena Johnson
Tell Congressman Waxman to investigate the Army’s cover up of Pfc LaVena Johnson’s murder.
While overwhelming evidence shows that LaVena Johnson was raped and murdered while serving in Iraq, the US Army refuses to acknowledge the crime and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Join the Johnson family’s call for Congressman Waxman to hold a Congressional hearing that uncovers the truth behind LaVena’s tragic death.

ColorofChange.org is perhaps most widely known for its advocacy on behalf of the Jena Six – young African-American men facing racial bias and inflated charges of murder in Jena, LA. From the organization’s “About Us” page:

ColorOfChange.org is comprised of Black folks from every economic class, as well as those of every color who seek to help our voices be heard. Our members are united behind a simple, powerful pledge: we will do all we can to make sure all Americans are represented, served, and protected

New LaVena petition to Congress and the President

Philip Barron — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:23:00 +0000

As you will recall, the original LaVena Johnson petition to the Armed Services Committees of the House and the Senate – asking those bodies to compel the Army to reopen the investigation of LaVena’s death in Iraq – closed on May 23. I’m currently arranging with an organization for delivery of the petition to the legislators on those committees.

For the many people who have recently heard of LaVena’s story and are looking for ways to help, activist Danielle Vyas has launched a new and separate petition effort on the Care2 network (also noted by Bruce Combs in comments). The Justice for LaVena Johnson petition is addressed to both houses of Congress and President Bush. Danielle’s goal is one thousand signatures; after a full day, the count currently stands at 108.

I am very grateful to Danielle for sponsoring this new petition. I’ll add my own name to the list today. This effort belongs to no single person; the more voices that can be raised in support of the Johnson family, the better.

Petition closed; other work continues

Philip Barron — Sat, 24 May 2008 13:28:00 +0000

As announced four days ago, the name-gathering phase of the LaVena Johnson petition effort has concluded. Attention here now turns to preparing the document for delivery to the Armed Services Committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Please visit this site again – or subscribe to this website’s RSS feed – for further developments, and thanks!

The end draws near for signatures

Philip Barron — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:27:00 +0000

We’ve reached the final days of signature-gathering for the LaVena petition to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees. I will close out the petition this weekend, sometime Saturday morning (May 24) and add those names I haven’t yet incorporated into the final document. Because of the code used by the petition website, I will have to take down the petition altogether rather than leaving the names and comments up for viewing. That is, there’s no way to simply remove the text entering fields while leaving the rest of it up. As I mentioned before, only the names and comments of the signatories will be included in the printed document – no states or ZIP codes.

I am working on details of printing and delivery, and will announce word of that as soon as things are finalized.

Incidentally, the end of name-gathering for the petition does not mean the end of this website. The site will continue to serve as a place to read about developments regarding LaVena’s case, posted as events warrant.

So: plenty of time for final thanks to all who have so generously lent their support to this effort. More to come.

The petition is reopened!

Philip Barron — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 04:56:00 +0000

The petition to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees asking the members of those bodies to direct the Army to revisit the investigation of the suspicious death of Pfc. LaVena Johnson is once again open for signatures and supportive comments. This reopening of the petition comes just one day after its announced closing. The reason for the reversal is that LaVena’s father, Dr. John Johnson, requested that the petition remain open for a while longer. I am more than happy to oblige him in this.

An earlier goal for this petition effort was ten thousand names; that mark was met and surpassed, and the current count stands at just over twelve thousand signatories. I hope that the additional time given the open period of the petition will result in even more public support for the effort to uncover the truth behind LaVena’s death.

No new deadline for the end of the name-gathering phase has set; that info will be posted here and elsewhere as soon as it has been determined.

Thank you, again, for your attention and support.