ECBAWM urged the U.S. State Department to “deploy all necessary resources and undertake every effort” to seek justice for Bakari Henderson, a 22-year-old African-American U.S. citizen brutally beaten to death in Greece in July.

On the night of July 7, 2017, a group of men chased Bakari from a bar in Zakynthos, Greece, and savagely beat him in the street. Their motives are not yet known. Bakari died of the severe head injuries he sustained. Nine men have been arrested.

Bakari was a recent graduate of the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona. At the time of his death, he was in Greece working on a new clothing line he was developing. He had interned for the Texas House of Representatives and State Senate, which honored him after his death. Bakari’s family and friends remember him as a leader with a voice of reason who was fun-loving, peaceful, and calm. The Henderson family has created the Travel with Bakari initiative to honor his legacy as a compassionate, friendly, inquisitive, intelligent young man.

ECBAWM represents Bakari’s parents, Phil and Jill Henderson. On behalf of the Henderson family, ECBAWM urged the State Department to “take all available measures to help ensure the impartiality and thoroughness” of the Greek authorities’ investigation into Bakari’s death. The letter seeks accountability for “all those who bear responsibility for Bakari’s death” and demands that the investigation “fully explore the attackers’ motives, including any potential bias or hatred.”

ECBAWM attorneys Jonathan S. Abady, Earl S. Ward, and Doug Lieb represent the Henderson family. To read the letter, click here.