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I'm glad to see that a grand jury indicted 19-year old Gregory Collins, a white South Carolina man, on murder and other charges in the dragging death of 30-year old Anthony Hill. Collins was arrested in June after he shot Hill, and then dragged his body 11 miles behind a truck.

The New Black Panther Party would like to see this dragging death treated as a hate crime. Personally, I'll be happy to see Collins put in prison for the rest of his life without possibility of parole.

I've noticed that the new Black Panther Party is in the news quite abit lately. Fox News and others seem to think that the Black Panther Party is the key to having President Obama impeached ... if not thrown in prison.

The New Black Panther Party made its presence known in Newberry County ... the location of 30-year old Anthony Hill's dragging death.

"We fundamentally cannot allow a modern day lynching to take place," says party leader Malik Zulu Shabazz, "and we sit back and doing nothing about it."

"He was the best husband ever and the best father he could be," says Anthony’s estranged wife Aurea Hill. "When they told me what happened I was in shock."

Members of the New Black Panther Party have called for quicker action from law enforcement.

Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster insists that his department, along with federal officials are doing everything they can.

"What is perplexing to me and law enforcement is that we have a suspect in jail and charged with murder," says Sheriff Foster, "which is the highest crime that you can be charged with in the state of South Carolina."

According to Foster, Collins is sitting behind bars without bond as investigators continue their probe into what led up to the killing.

New Black Panther Party members and supporters say until Collins is charged with committing a hate crime, they will not be silenced.

"We as black people need to get together," says Newberry resident Leslie Means, "we need to come together with some unity and be as one."

The group has planned a march against hate crimes for July 17 in Newberry County.

Related Stories:

• NewsNet 14
• MidlandsConnect.com

I think that this blog may begin to keep an eye out on the new Black Panther Party over the coming days and weeks. Is there any activity from this group in your geographical area?

Anthony Hill was a son, a father, a military veteran and a friend to many. His dragging death in South Carolina was shocking on many different levels. One of his friends recently posted the following video on YouTube:

Mr Hill's cousin, Karen Hill said, "I don't know enough about the truth right now to say anything, but I'll say it like this: he needs to be punished for what he did, because that's a sad way to take somebody's life. It's hurtful to see him die like that, not just for me but his mom and sister."

Karen said her cousin Anthony was a quiet person who kept to himself, but he would help a stranger. [SOURCE]

Some trends need to be squashed before they can get going. Our nation has a horrific history with lynchings. We can ill-afford to allow racist white folks to begin using their pick-up trucks for lynching of Black folks.

Today I heard about another African American man being dragged on a rope behind a truck. This time the murderous hate crime occured in South Carolina, where Anthony Hill, 30, was dragged for 10 miles behind the truck of a 19-year old co-worker.

Police followed a trail of blood to the mobile home of 19-year old Gregory Collins. Collins was a co-worker of Mr. Hill at a local chicken-processing plant.

The police demanded that Collins come out - but he refused. After a three-hour stand-off, police forced him out by using tear gas. He was wearing an empty gun holster.

Sheriff Lee Foster, who has been in law enforcement for 35 years, told a local news conference it was 'one of the top three most violent crime scenes he's ever seen'.

Police believe Hill was killed at Collins' mobile home with a shot to the head, and then his body dragged behind a pickup truck.




I recall the tremendous public outcry when James Byrd was dragged to his death in Jasper, Texas. There was less attention when Brandon McClelland was dragged to his death. Even worse, the white racists that killed young Brandon were never convicted of his murder.

I hope that this miscreant (Gregory Collins) feels the full weight of the law. More importantly, I hope that they put him in the same jail cell as a 350-pound Black lifer who can do a little draggin' of his own!