mississippi
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Six white former Mississippi police officers, who as part of a “goon squad” tortured two Black men pleaded guilty to blocking prosecution efforts.
According to reports, the police officers pled guilty to hindering efforts by the prosecution among other charges in relation to the brutal raid and torture of two Black men at a home in Braxton on Jan. 24. Brett McAlpin, Jeffrey Middleton, Christian Dedmond, Hunter Elward, Daniel Opdyke and Joshua Hartfield referred to themselves as a “goon squad” because of their willingness to use excessive force. Five of the men were deputies with the Rankin Police Department while Hartfield was a narcotics investigator for the Richland Police Department.
“To my knowledge,” said Trent Walker, an attorney for victims Eddie Parker and Michael Jenkins, “never in the history of Mississippi have, in particular, white officers been held to account for brutality against Black victims.” The six men were found to have committed actions hindering obstruction in the case, which included giving false statements to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and intimidating others involved with that incident and others.
The brutal assault on Jenkins and Parker Jan. 24 included deputies hurling racial slurs at the two, beating and torturing them with various objects, resulting in Jenkins being shot in the mouth. He and Parker would be charged with disorderly conduct, with Jenkins being accused of assaulting an officer and drug possession. All the charges would eventually be dropped.
After being federally convicted, the former officers face varying lengths of prison time. Dedmon and Elward each face up to 120 years, in addition to a life sentence. Opdyke faces a sentence of up to 100 years and McAlpin faces a sentence of up to 90 years; Hartfield and Middleton each face up to 80 years. University of South Carolina School of Law professor Seth W. Stoughton said of the situation that it was “reminiscent of the most blatant racist abuses by police in the Jim Crow and Civil Rights era. This was a lynch mob of officers, pure and simple.” Many are calling for Rankin Police Chief Bryan Bailey to resign, but he has vehemently refused and plans to run again for sheriff in November.
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Source: screenshot / mississippifreepress
A Mississippi boy was shot in the chest by a police officer who responded to a 911 call he made to help his mother in a domestic dispute.
On May 20, Aderrien Murry was directed by his mother, Nakala, to call 911 after the father of one of his siblings came home “irate” at 4 a.m. Indianola Police Department officer Greg Capers arrived on the scene and “had his gun drawn at the front door and asked those inside the home to come outside.” Murry then said her son Aderrien complied and was shot coming around the corner from his room into the living room.
According to NewsOne, “Once he came from around the corner, he got shot,” Murry said. “I cannot grasp why. The same cop that told him to come out of the house. (Aderrien) did, and he got shot. He kept asking, ‘Why did he shoot me? What did I do wrong?’”
Nakala Murry acted swiftly, pressing her hand on Aderrien’s wound as “he sang gospel songs and prayed while bleeding out.” The boy was then rushed to the University of Mississippi Medical Center of Jackson where he was given a chest tube and placed on a ventilator. Aderrien had suffered a collapsed lung, fractured ribs and a lacerated liver as a result of the shooting. He was released from the hospital on Wednesday (May 24).
Officer Capers was placed on paid administrative leave by the Indianola Board of Aldermen. The family attorney for the Murrrys, Carlos Moore, blasted the decision. “Aderrien came within an inch of losing his life,” Moore said to CNN. “It’s not OK for a cop to do this and get away with this. The mother asked Aderrien to call the police on her daughter’s father. He walked out of his room as directed by the police and he got shot.” Nakala Murry said that “no one came to the hospital from the police station” and that she hadn’t spoken to any police investigators.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation released a statement over the weekend saying that it was “currently assessing this critical incident and gathering evidence,” planning to release its findings to the state attorney general. They refused to offer further information to the press. “Due to this being an open and ongoing investigation, no further comment will be made.”
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It appears that a Mississippi news meteorologist with a history of saying the exact wrong thing to Black people has gotten the boot after she made an ill-advised reference to rapper Snoop Dogg while on air.
According to Deadline, Barbie Bassett has not been on the air for NBC affiliate WLBT since March 8, the day she made what she probably thought was a clever quip about the idea of a Snoop collaboration with a newsroom journalist.
“Fo shizzle, my nizzle,” Bassett, who is, well not Black, said.
OK, OK — just wait a second, guys. Maybe Bassett simply didn’t understand what the “n” in “nizzle” actually stands for.
She might have been thinking, “For sure, my nephew.” Or maybe she had no idea what any of it was translating.
“For sanctuary, my neighbor.”
“For social studies? My notebook!”
“For shares and sh*t, my network.”
“For Sizzler, my napkin.”
She could have thought she was saying any of these things.
But, again, this is apparently not Bassett’s first racist slip of the noose…I mean, tongue.
From Deadline:
The station’s chief meteorologist as well as anchor, Bassett has previously caused controversy with a comment, referring to a black reporter’s “grandmammy” on air. She later apologized.
She is no longer listed on the station’s website, according to the Clarion Ledger. And Bassett has not shared anything on Twitter since the same day – her silence including this weekend when a deadly tornado struck Mississippi, sparking huge chatter among meteorologists.
Naaaah, but hold up! Let’s be clear, Bassett didn’t just tell a Black reporter to consult her “grandmammy” about a “chocolate pie,” but she began her remarks by saying “giiiiirl” and “sis’” in the whitest ways you have ever heard those words uttered.
Bruh, my secondhand embarrassment has secondhand embarrassment.
In both videos, Bassett clearly leaves her poor co-stars bowing their heads and looking around nervously as if they’re trying to dodge the ricochet backlash they know Evil Barbara Walters is generating for herself with every word that comes out of her mouth.
It’s unclear if Bassett was actually fired, suspended or what, but if she wasn’t fired, this meteorologist’s future likely depends on her ability to withstand the storm (see what I did there?) her unmitigated caucasity has created.
I’m just saying, she might be looking for a job at Fox News soon.
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Photo: WLBT News Mississippi/ Barbie Bassett’s Facebook Page / Barbie Bassett Facebook
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