JMB's speech had me in absolute tears. He truly spoke straight from the heart.
But weren't Anonymous supposed to have been involved in this somehow? I thought that was the deal when it was first announced at least.
Yeah -- they supposedly had "new information" regarding to who exactly perpetrated this case and they were supposed to release it at the rally, but they were absent and no new information was presented by anyone.
I'm just reporting the facts here, so don't get mad at me. By reporting the following, I do not mean to diminish the effort or imply that it "wasn't worth it," so again, be adult and don't attack me for simply stating the facts, as I viewed the rally streaming. That said, here they are:
It was a low turnout. Two of the speakers (attendants of the rally, non-family of the victims) acknowledged this at the podium, and even though the sound system wouldn't be the best medium to measure, one could have guessed as much from the lackluster applause to each speaker.
Mara Leveritt, like Anonymous, didn't show up; even though she said she was and would be speaking. She was off covering another similar case that is more recent than this one. In her place, a minister who lived across the street from her spoke.
JB provided a statement to be read on his behalf that regretted his absence and called for justice. The only people who were in attendance with direct connections to this case were JB's mother, GG (who did not speak) and JMB.
JMB's speech was, in many parts, a mirror-image of those he had given in the documentaries; down to the very words/delivery. He recounted the events on May 5th and the punishment he had doled out to CB, reiterating how he had only "swatted" his jeaned-backside twice and how much he regretted his actions. He also reiterated his belief in the WM3's innocence, and he alluded to the hair found in the ligature of MM pointing to the real killer (although, he never used TH's name specifically; none of the speakers did, with the exception of one individual: an attendant at the rally who said he had nothing really to lose and that TH could go ahead and so sue him -- paraphrasing). His voice indicated that he was crying throughout most of his speech. The feed cut out mid-way through JMB's speech.
There were about 4 keynote speakers, JMB being one of them, in addition to a musician singing songs that he and DE had written while the latter was in prison. JMB's brother, a minister, then led a prayer for the 3 boys; and in an effort to prolong the rally, anybody who had attended the rally (non-family, etc) was invited to come up and say a few words.
The rally lasted for about 2 hours and dispersed to a nearby Mexican restaurant in the area.