Current:Home > ScamsState police recruit’s death in Massachusetts overshadows graduation ceremony -WealthFlow Academy
State police recruit’s death in Massachusetts overshadows graduation ceremony
View
Date:2025-04-19 06:42:45
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — Holding signs demanding truth and chanting for justice, several dozen people gathered Wednesday outside a graduation ceremony for Massachusetts State Police cadets demanding an explanation of how one of the recruits died during a training exercise.
Enrique Delgado-Garcia, 25, died at a hospital on Sept. 13 a day after becoming unresponsive during a defensive tactics exercise in a boxing ring and suffering a “medical crisis,” authorities have said. The state attorney general has since named an attorney to lead an outside investigation into the death of Delgado-Garcia, whose funeral was held Saturday.
Delgado-Garcia’s mother and others have said they want answers and accountability from the investigation, and she has raised questions about whether the training exercise was unnecessarily violent. She was not at the protest but some of Delgado-Garcia’s friends and other relatives had similar questions.
“We are looking for justice, answers,” said Jennifer Verges, who was among several protesters holding a banner with a photo of Delgado-Garcia. “Why is he not here graduating with the rest? We’re here mourning his death.”
Luis Canario, a cousin who was holding a poster honoring Delgado-Garcia and wearing a T-shirt with his image, said he found it hard to believe that Delgado-Garcia could have died from a boxing accident. He was among several people who said the graduation should have been postponed.
“We don’t feel like this was right that he doesn’t get to graduate when everyone else is graduating,” he said. “It’s not fair that, with an open investigation going on, they are still graduating people but one of their own that they call their brother is not here.”
The protest happened against a backdrop of calls for accountability that have spread beyond Delgado-Garcia’s family. The Latino Law Enforcement Group of Boston and Lawyers for Civil Rights in Boston have both issued public statements calling for transparency about the investigation into Delgado-Garcia’s death.
The state must “immediately suspend anyone potentially involved and responsible for the fatal boxing match to ensure the safety and well-being of the remaining cadets in the Massachusetts State Police Academy,” in addition to making other safety and accountability improvements, Lawyers for Civil Rights said in its statement.
Delgado-Garcia’s death overshadowed what should have been a celebration for the 185 troopers at a Worcester auditorium. There was a moment of silence honoring Delgado-Garcia during the ceremony and recruits wore shrouded badges.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and newly appointed Massachusetts State Police Superintendent Col. Geoffrey Noble all referenced his name in their remarks to graduates. They expressed condolences to his family and acknowledged the challenges the death has brought to his fellow recruits.
“Today’s celebration carries a great weight. You lost a recruit,” Healey told the crowd.
“Trooper Enrique Delgado-Garcia answered the call. He took the assignment. He along with all of you was drawn to serve. Trooper Delgado-Garcia was and is a special person, determined to not only to uphold the law but to uplift his community,” Healey said. “To members of Enrique’s family, friends and the Worcester community here today and watching, we continue to grieve with you and pray with you.”
Delgado-Garcia, of Worcester, died after the boxing ring exercise took place at the Massachusetts State Police Academy in New Braintree, a little more than 60 miles (97 kilometers) west of Boston. Massachusetts State Police has said it has suspended full-contact boxing training activities among recruits in the wake of Delgado-Garcia’s death.
Delgado-Garcia was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, and moved to Worcester at a young age, according to an obituary on the website of the Mercadante Funeral Home & Chapel in Worcester. He earned an undergraduate degree from Westfield State University in Massachusetts before starting his career as a victim’s advocate in 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 dude. He liked to enjoy his life but also liked to help people at the same time. He was always motivated to do better. ... He was going after this dream and this happened.”
veryGood! (26395)
Related
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- Allegheny Wood Products didn’t give proper notice before shutting down, lawsuit says
- EAGLEEYE COIN: Blockchain Technology - Reshaping the Future of the Financial Industry
- Democrats make play for veteran and military support as Trump homes in on GOP nomination
- B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
- MH370 vanished a decade ago and search efforts stopped several years later. A U.S. company wants to try again.
- EAGLEEYE COIN Trading Center - The New King of Cryptocurrency Markets
- Apple fined almost $2 billion by EU for giving its music streaming service leg up over rivals'
- Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
- How to Care for Bleached & Color-Treated Hair, According to a Professional Hair Colorist
Ranking
- Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
- EAGLEEYE COIN: Prospects for the Application of Blockchain Technology in the Field of Internet of Things
- Shehbaz Sharif elected Pakistan's prime minister as Imran Khan's followers allege victory was stolen
- California man is first in the US to be charged with smuggling greenhouse gases, prosecutors say
- Meet the volunteers risking their lives to deliver Christmas gifts to children in Haiti
- The Daily Money: File your taxes for free
- Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey kills moose in self-defense after incident with dog team
- Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey kills moose in self-defense after incident with dog team
Recommendation
Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
'Effective immediately': University of Maryland frats, sororities suspended amid hazing probe
New frescoes found in ash of Pompeii 2,000 years after city wiped out by Mount Vesuvius eruption
San Francisco Giants' Matt Chapman bets on himself after 'abnormal' free agency
DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
A list of mass killings in the United States this year
For Women’s History Month, a look at some trailblazers in American horticulture
A New EDF-Harvard Satellite Will Monitor Methane Emissions From Oil and Gas Production Worldwide