Local News
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) – Several dozen people gathered outside a graduation ceremony for Massachusetts State Police cadets Wednesday, holding signs demanding the reality and calling for justice, demanding an evidence for the way one in all the recruits died during a training exercise died.
Enrique Delgado-Garcia, 25, died in a hospital on September 13, a day after he became unresponsive and suffered a “medical crisis” during a defensive tactics exercise in a boxing ring, authorities said. The attorney general has since named a lawyer to steer an outdoor investigation into the death of Delgado-Garcia, whose funeral was held Saturday.
Delgado-Garcia's mother and others have said they need answers and accountability from the investigation, and he or she has raised questions on whether the training exercise was unnecessarily violent. She wasn't on the protest, but a few of Delgado-Garcia's friends and other relatives had similar questions.
“We are looking for justice and answers,” said Jennifer Verges, who was amongst several protesters holding a banner with a photograph of Delgado-Garcia. “Why isn’t he here to graduate with the others? We mourn his death here.”
Luis Canario, a cousin who held a poster honoring Delgado-Garcia and wore a T-shirt together with his image, said he found it hard to consider that Delgado-Garcia could have died in a boxing accident. He was amongst several who said graduation must have been postponed.
“We don’t think it was right that he couldn’t graduate when everyone else graduated,” he said. “It’s not fair that despite an ongoing investigation, they are still graduates but one of them, who they call their brother, is not here.”
The protest got here amid calls for accountability that prolonged beyond Delgado-Garcia's family. The Latino Law Enforcement Group of Boston and Lawyers for Civil Rights in Boston have each issued public statements calling for transparency within the investigation into Delgado-Garcia's death.
The state must “immediately suspend anyone who may be involved in and responsible for the fatal boxing match to ensure the safety and well-being of the remaining Massachusetts State Police Academy cadets,” and likewise make further improvements in safety and accountability, it said Lawyers for Civil Rights said in its statement.
Delgado-Garcia's death overshadowed celebrations for the 185 soldiers in an auditorium in Worcester. During the ceremony, there was a moment of silence in honor of Delgado-Garcia and recruits wore covered badges.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and newly appointed Massachusetts State Police Superintendent Col. Geoffrey Noble all mentioned his name of their addresses to the graduates. They expressed their condolences to his family and acknowledged the challenges the death delivered to his fellow recruits.
“Today’s celebration has great significance. You lost a recruit,” Healey told the gang.
“Trooper Enrique Delgado-Garcia answered the call. He accepted the assignment. He and you all wanted to serve. Trooper Delgado-Garcia was and is a special individual who is determined not only to uphold the law, but also to strengthen his community,” Healey said. “To the members of Enrique’s family, friends and the Worcester community who are here today watching: we continue to grieve with you and pray with you.”
Delgado-Garcia, of Worcester, died after boxing ring practice took place on the Massachusetts State Police Academy in New Braintree, just over 60 miles (97 kilometers) west of Boston. Massachusetts state police said they’ve suspended full-contact boxing training for recruits following Delgado-Garcia's death.
Delgado-Garcia was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, and moved to Worcester at a young age, based on an obituary on the Mercadante Funeral Home & Chapel website in Worcester. He earned a bachelor's degree from Westfield State University in Massachusetts before starting his profession as a victim advocate within the Worcester District Attorney's Office, the obituary said.
“He never had a bad bone in his body,” Canario said. “He was a stand-up guy. He enjoyed his life but at the same time he also enjoyed helping people. He was always motivated to do better. … He pursued that dream and this happened.”
image credit : www.boston.com