9 Investigates

Ocoee city leadership sign formal apology for Ocoee Massacre

OCOEE, Fla. — Two days after Channel 9 Eyewitness News aired a documentary about the Ocoee Massacre the city mayor, city manager and commissioners have signed a formal letter of apology.

An unknown number of Blacks were killed and one man lynched because they tried to vote in a presidential election.

READ: Why we produced the Ocoee Massacre story

Channel 9 investigative reporter Daralene Jones has been in touch with descendants of the families on Wednesday and they said the apology is just the start of repairing what was lost.

They want to be restored financially.

>>> Click here to read Channel 9′s full, in-depth coverage a century after the Ocoee Massacre <<<

“This letter is an admission to this wrongdoing, but at the same time saying there’s no one now who should be held accountable, I disagree with that,” said Robert Hickey, John and Lucy Hickey’s grandson.

Watch Channel 9′s full documentary film below:


Sarah Wilson

Sarah Wilson, WFTV.com

Sarah Wilson joined WFTV Channel 9 in 2018 as a digital producer after working as an award-winning newspaper reporter for nearly a decade in various communities across Central Florida.