Donate to the Rachel Morningstar Hoffman Foundation

Nearly two weeks ago, an SSDP member lost her life in the crossfire of the War on Drugs.

Rachel Hoffman had just graduated from Florida State University, with plans to attend culinary school. As an undergrad, she was popular among her group of friends, many of whom she met through her involvement in FSU’s chapters of Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

Like many college students, she shared marijuana with her friends, and would often “go in” on larger amounts in order to save money. And that’s how she got busted.

Rachel was threatened with prison time, then promised a slap on the wrist if she agreed to wear a wire and set up a deal with her suppliers. Tallahassee police gave her $13,000 in cash and told her to purchase 1,500 ecstasy pills, 2 ounces of cocaine, and a handgun. They never informed her attorney, family, or the state prosecutor before they sent Rachel into the lions’ den that day. And nobody had the chance to tell her she was in way over her head.

After police found Rachel’s body, they held a press conference and blamed her for her own death. Among Rachel’s family and friends, sadness quickly turned into outrage and action. Last Wednesday, hundreds of students marched in protest of the role the Tallahassee Police Department played in Rachel’s death. They held signs that read “Who Killed Rachel?” and “No More Drug War” while wearing t-shirts from SSDP and other allied organizations. Please take a moment to watch this powerful video of the demonstration:

In her memory, Rachel’s parents have established the Rachel Morningstar Foundation, the goal of which is to pass a law requiring legal advice to be sought before a civilian can consent to undercover work. They will also work to decriminalize marijuana in Florida. Please make a generous donation to the foundation today, and include a personal note to Rachel’s parents if you are moved to do so.

In the meantime, Rachel’s murderers must be brought to justice. But the drug dealers who pulled the trigger clearly aren’t the only ones responsible for her death. They are the police who coerced her into being an informant and the politicians who justify waging a War on Drugs to “protect young people from drugs,” while using those very same young people as pawns in their deadly game. On Wednesday, one protester’s sign poignantly asked, “Do you feel safe?”

ABC News has now picked up on the story in Florida about Rachel Hoffman, the young woman murdered after Tallahassee police inserted her into a dangerous undercover drug sting.  More details have been uncovered, such as the discovery of over five ounces of marijuana at Hoffman’s home, along with scales and baggies.

ABC News: Cops Pressed to Explain Dead Informant
In addition to the 2007 drug charge, authorities also released information about an underage drinking charge Hoffman faced in 2003, as well as multiple instances in which she was targeted by thieves — crimes he said are often related to drugs.

“They’re basically pointing the finger at Rachel,” said [defense attorney Johnny] Devine, who served as Hoffman’s attorney after the 2007 bust, in an interview with ABC News. “What does her underage drinking charge have anything to do with what happened to her?”

[Devine] wanted to know why, as her attorney, he did not know about this offer from police — something McCranie said was not uncommon.

“They’re asking her to do something that would put her in a life or death situation,” Devine said. “I have never had any time where the police department has not called me to tell me this is what’s happening.”

Further, Devine said, Hoffman did not have any previous experience with firearms, but authorities knew from the terms of the deal that she would be confronted by a pair of men — one of whom had a violent criminal past — who were carrying at least one gun.

“She had never worked as an undercover agent,” he said. “She had no experience or training in this matter.”

Finally, Hoffman challenged police reluctance to at least share with her family members some details from the murder scene to allow them to grieve.

“They are left to speculate and guess about the cause of her death,” he said. “Was she tortured? Was she beaten?”

While the police continue to defend the decisions that drew Hoffman into her role as an informant, even William “Willie” Meggs, the state’s attorney in Tallahassee who will ultimately prosecute Green and Bradshaw, said that his office should have known about the April raid at Hoffman’s apartment and her subsequent deal with authorities.

“We would have liked to have known and we did not,” Meggs told ABC News, stressing that as a participant in the drug court, Hoffman already had a relationship with a case worker in the program and should not have any kind of drug interaction involving police without his office knowing.

The police continue to play “blame the victim”, saying that what killed Hoffman was two murderers and her “drug lifestyle”.  But Hoffman was only involved in small amounts of marijuana and was never involved with guns, so to send her on a drug buy for 1500 ecstasy pills, two ounces of coke, and a handgun was completely out of her character.  This is not the kind of nuance that is lost on hard-core drug dealers, especially when you have been recently released from police custody and you ask to meet them in a public place.