By Scott Turner

The Jones family wants to be compensated for land they claim was stolen to help build the University of Alabama campus. Oct. 11, 2023. (Scott Turner/AL.com)

National organization Where Is My Land is no longer helping a Huntsville family in their effort for compensation for land they say was stolen to help build the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Where Is My Land spokeswoman Hannah Green said the organization decided to end its campaign after receiving information about a family member’s past sexual assault related conviction, which she said could distract from the family’s claim.

“Reparative justice is central to our work, and we believe that the family should take this time to address and repair interfamilial harms, and we want to give them space to do so,” Greene said in a release this weekend. “This does not mean that Madison County, the city of Huntsville, and the University of Alabama in Huntsville are not complicit in the theft of their ancestor, Willie Jones’ land. As we encourage the Jones family to do their reparative work, we call on Willie Jones’ perpetrators to repair the harm they’ve inflicted on generations of his descendants.”

Neither the organization nor the family identified the family member. A statement from the family to the Lede said the family member pleaded guilty and was already serving time in prison.

The statement said the family did not disclose the details of this case or mention the details publicly, not as an act of hiding it, but as it has nothing to do with what happened to Willie Jones. The family said the person wasn’t even born before Jones died.

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