They said the nonprofit foundation has already begun operating a 24-hour anti-bullying hotline staffed by trained crisis responders employed by Nexus Services who will provide emergency assistance to bullying victims in crisis as well as report bullying cases to school principals.ĭonovan told the news conference the trained hotline staff provides crisis counseling for Nexus’s clients from one of the company’s call centers in Harrisonburg, Va. “If we don’t do something to bring isolated kids out of the shadows, if we don’t do something to help those kids build relationships with each other and with adults and ways to fit it,” he told the news conference, “then we can’t be surprised when the next bomb goes off.”Ĭruz and Mike Donovan, president and CEO of Nexus Services, Inc., a Virginia-based immigrant oriented bail bond company that is funding the new group, said they have named the new organization, We Isolate No-One (WIN): The Zachary Cruz Foundation to End Bullying. Zachary Cruz has said he believes the behavior of his brother Nicholas was shaped at least in part by bullying he suffered while in school, which Zachary Cruz believes resulted in Nicholas becoming isolated and highly troubled. Bullying leads to abuse and violence and not the least isolation,” he said. “However, I can say very clearly today that our schools all across the country have ticking time bombs in them. “His story is complicated, tragic and can be told elsewhere,” he said. “I cannot stand here today and defend my brother or make excuses for him,” Zachary Cruz said. Zachary Cruz, 18, told reporters at a June 14 news conference at the National Press Club in Washington that he hopes the newly launched organization, among other things, will be able to help troubled, isolated young people victimized by bullying like his brother, Nicholas Cruz, before they engage in destructive behavior that can endanger the lives of themselves and others. 14 school shooting in Parkland, Fla., has announced the formation of a national anti-bullying organization that he says will be supported by high school and middle school students from across the country. Representatives for BSO and Nexus Derechos Humanos could not be reached for comment Thursday.The younger brother of the 19-year old youth charged with killing 17 people in the Feb. Zachary Cruz has been living in Virginia since last year with Mike Donovan and Richard Moore, co-founders of a bond-servicing company. While the lawsuit resulted in a modest payoff for Cruz, he and his brother are entitled to share more than $860,000 from an insurance policy filed by their adopted mother, who died in late 2017, according to a court motion. > RELATED Parkland school shooting victims remembered by loved ones Only Green remained as a defendant when the lawsuit was settled this week. Sherea Green, a member of the Broward jail's executive staff, State Attorney Michael Satz, Assistant State Attorney Sarahnell Murphy and Broward County Judge Kim Theresa Mollica. The defendants were originally listed as BSO Capt. A prosecutor had said at the time that Zachary Cruz showed the 'same flags' as his brother.Ĭruz, 19, suffered “dehumanizing treatment” while he was held in custody including being deprived of sleep with 24-hour “intense” lighting, intimidating behavior by guards, 24-hour restraints and other procedures “that amount to torture under the Geneva Convention,” according to the group. The lawsuit, filed by Virginia-based Nexus Derechos Humanos, claimed that the younger Cruz was the victim of “an extortive campaign of intimidation because of the identity of his brother.”Ĭruz's attorneys charged that authorities “conspired” to keep their client in jail by holding him on $500,000 bond for trespassing, a second-degree misdemeanor that typically brings a $25 bond.

> RELATED After Parkland shooting, more guns turn up at Palm Beach County public schools Nikolas Cruz, now 20, is facing the death penalty.Ĭourt documents show that the case was closed May 1 and that Zachary Cruz, a one-time Lantana-area resident who now lives in Virginia, will receive a settlement of $3,000. The lawsuit was filed in March 2018 after Zachary Cruz was arrested for trespassing after he skateboarded onto the campus of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where his brother allegedly killed 17 students and employees on Feb. FORT LAUDERDALE - Zachary Cruz, the younger brother of Parkland mass shooter Nikolas Cruz, has settled a federal lawsuit that accused the Broward County Sheriff's Office, prosecutors and a judge of 'torturing' him and violating his civil rights, according to court documents.

Zachary cruz prior arrest