Justice against excessive use of force and false

My name is Mike Neal, and I’m asking for your help. This is my story. In 2015, I was charged with attempted murder by the Florida State Attorney’s Office. They claimed that I unjustifiably attacked a man at a bar in Miami Beach. It wasn’t true. I had previously obtained a restraining order against the alleged victim. And, when he attacked me, I defended myself. Nevertheless, I was criminally charged and, ultimately, put in jail to await trial. For the next five years, as I sat in jail and waited for the chance to be vindicated, I lived a nightmare. I was constantly harassed by Miami-Dade correctional officers. When I complained about this harassment, I was retaliated against. The result was being charged with additional felonies, including, for example, tampering with a sprinkler system. Even after the State Attorney’s Office dropped the attempted murder charge against me—recognizing that the evidence could show that I had acted in self-defense—I couldn’t escape jail because of the new charges. The harassment culminated on April 12, 2019. By way of brief background, I have a chronic knee issue that requires me to use a cane to walk. On that day, officers were escorting me back to my cell. I was handcuffed. While I was being escorted, an officer who had previously harassed me—Officer Delman Lumpkin—pushed me in my back. When he pushed me again, I used my arm to try to shield myself. Lumpkin proceeded to beat me again, again, and again. The beating was caught on surveillance videotape. Although the videotape made clear that Officer Lumpkin’s attack on me was unjustified and excessive, the State Attorney’s Office charged me with assaulting a correctional officer. To further add insult to injury, Officer Lumpkin lied to the police about what had happened, claiming that I attacked him with my cane. Again, the surveillance video proved that to be demonstrably false. But the truth didn’t matter. I was charged anyway. At that point, I wanted to give up. I had been wrongfully arrested. I had been wrongfully charged. And then, after being physically beaten by a correctional officer—a beating caught on videotape—I was charged with beating the officer. I felt that there was no justice in this world. Thankfully, a reporter at the Miami Herald learned about my case and published a series of articles about my story. The results were swift. The State Attorney’s Office finally dropped the charges against me and began to investigate Officer Lumpkin and other guards for attacking me. And, after spending five years in jail, I was finally released. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” I’ll never get the five years that I spend behind bars back. But, now that I’m out, I’m looking forward to becoming a productive member of society. Unfortunately, I have very little. I don’t have a job and am currently living at a homeless shelter. I’m hoping that my story resonates with you and that you’ll donate to this Go Fund Me page. My ultimate goal is to raise enough money to rent an apartment, buy clothes suitable for the working world, and otherwise put me in a position to seek and maintain a full time job. Anything you can contribute will be appreciated.  God bless you.  https://drive.google.com/file/d/15Nfjl1737B8K-l9k2D61IBNDigjm-wpt/view?usp=drivesdk