We at Everglades Moon Local Council (Covenant of The Goddess) are saddened by the violent Deerfield Drive triple homicide, in our home state of Florida. We hope the person(s) responsible are swiftly brought to justice. We are also disappointed that the mainstream media chose to twist the statements made by the Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan and Sgt. Andrew Hobbs. The media, with intent to make a tragic story go viral, portrays members of our community in an inappropriate and ignorant way.
The Public Information Officer of EMLC spoke with Sena Maddison, ECSO Public Information Officer, and she was also disappointed about the way the news outlets chose to headline the story. She stated “The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff David Morgan and Sgt. Andrew Hobbs never used the word Wicca and by no means, in any way, ever intended for Wicca or any religion to be maligned.”
We at EMLC are always ready to help educate others, including the media and the criminal justice community, about our religion. We hope by providing education to help the broader community understand that Wicca has a code of ethics centered on harming none, and in no way endorses or requires violence, murder, ritual human or animal sacrifice.
EMLC asks if anyone in the Florida community has any information about this case to please call Crime Stoppers at 850-433-STOP or call the ECSO non-emergency phone number at 850-436-9620. You can request to remain anonymous.
EMLC is not alone in speaking out against the media handling of this tragic event. Lady Liberty League has issued a statement, as they have also been in touch with ECSO and are working to respond to the situation. The Wild Hunt also has ongoing excellent coverage as well.
Several media agencies, including The Washington Post and The Guardian have updated their stories to include not only better research into what exactly Wicca and Witchcraft are, but also information from local pagans who reached out to help bring more understanding and education about what Wicca is to the media.
Update 08/07/2015: Discovery News has a great article taking each point in the story and identifying why it would not or could not be used to link the murders to Wicca. Good job!
For those who would like to watch it, here is the full press conference presented on 08/04/2015 by ECSO regarding this horrific event. The full transcript is available by clicking this link: