Who is Ben Crump, the US lawyer helping Ghana seek justice for citizens killed in America?

Ghana has turned to American civil rights lawyer Ben Crump to help seek justice for Ghanaians who have died under violent or suspicious circumstances in the United States.

Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa announced on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, that Ghana’s Permanent Mission in New York had been given approval to engage Mr Crump’s services at no cost to the Ghanaian taxpayer.

The move follows the lawyer’s involvement in the case of 15-year-old Javits Frimpong, who was shot dead in the Bronx while walking to school.

Mr Ablakwa said he had spoken with Mr Crump about extending his services to other Ghanaian families whose relatives have died in the US in recent months.

They include 24-year-old Joseph Owusu, whose body was found inside a body bag in Canarsie, Brooklyn, on October 30, after he had been missing for about two weeks; 37-year-old Akpene Diamond Tetteh, who was shot dead in Savannah, Georgia, in February; and Dr Kofi Akamani, who died in Murphysboro, Illinois, in September.

Ghana’s Ambassador to the US, Victor Smith, has also disclosed that five Ghanaians have died under different circumstances since he took office, with firearms involved in most of the cases.

Benjamin Lloyd Crump, born on October 10, 1969, is an American lawyer whose work has centred largely on civil rights, wrongful death and personal injury cases.

He studied criminal justice at Florida State University, graduating in 1992, and obtained his law degree from the same institution in 1995.

Crump became a familiar name across the US through his involvement in several high-profile cases involving the deaths of Black Americans.

In 2006, he represented the family of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson, who died at a boot camp in Panama City, Florida. But it was his involvement in the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old shot dead in Sanford, Florida, that brought him widespread national attention.

He later represented the families of Michael Brown and Tamir Rice.

In 2020, Crump was among the lawyers representing the families of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. He also represented Jacob Blake, who was shot by police in Wisconsin.

His work has earned him the nickname ‘Black America’s attorney general’. TIME magazine also named him among its 100 Most Influential People in 2021.

His practice, however, goes beyond cases involving police shootings and civil rights as he has handled major personal injury lawsuits, including litigation involving Johnson & Johnson baby powder.

In October 2020, he secured a $411 million jury verdict in a trucking accident case.

Javits was shot in the abdomen shortly before 9:30 a.m. on October 29 near East 171st Street and Crotona Place in the Claremont section of the Bronx.

The shooting happened a few blocks from his school, DreamYard Preparatory. He was rushed to St Barnabas Hospital but died from his injuries.

The 15-year-old had moved from Ghana about a year earlier to join his father, Thomas Frimpong, who works as a yellow cab driver in New York with hopes to become a doctor.

Police are searching for three teenage boys, believed to be between 16 and 18 years old, in connection with the shooting.

His father told reporters that Javits had complained about being bullied. He said the school’s principal had contacted him days before the shooting to inform him that two students had been suspended over the issue.

Police, however, have not established any connection between the reported bullying and the shooting.

Javits’ mother, Doris Adu Gyamfi, who lives in Kumasi, travelled to the US following efforts by the Ghanaian and American authorities to facilitate her visit.

On October 31, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said President Donald Trump had agreed during a telephone conversation to help secure her visa so she could say goodbye to her son.

Mr Ablakwa later announced that the US Embassy in Accra had processed visas for her and a relative through an expedited procedure. The Ghanaian government also offered to pay for her travel and assist with funeral expenses.

She arrived in New York on November 4 and made it clear that her priority was to get justice for her son.

On November 6, Crump announced that the family had engaged his law firm to represent them.

He said his firm would stand with the family until those responsible were held accountable. He has also indicated that any civil action would depend on the facts of the case, adding that there was no publicly established evidence at the time showing that the school or another third party was legally responsible for the shooting.

Crump has since joined Reverend Al Sharpton, Mr Ablakwa and the Frimpong family in appealing to the public for information that could help identify those responsible.

The family has also appealed to the public not to politicise or tribalise Javits’ death.

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