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Benjamin Brown was walking to a cafe on Lynch Street near downtown Jackson to buy food on May 11, 1967, when he encountered a standoff between students and police officers at Jackson State. 

Students objected to the presence of Jackson police on the campus and had begun protesting the previous day. As the demonstration continued, the state highway patrol and the National Guard got involved. Brown was nearby when law enforcement officers fired guns into the crowd.

Bullets struck Brown in the leg, back and head. People cried out for help, but 45 minutes passed before police took Brown to a hospital. He died the next morning, on his  22nd birthday.  

Now, a new historic marker will honor Brown near the site where he was shot. 

University officials, along with state and local leaders, unveiled the Ben Brown Freedom Trail Marker on Thursday during JSU’s annual Gibbs-Green Commemoration. The ceremony recognizes 21-year-old Phillip Lafayette Gibbs, who was a Jackson State student, and 17-year-old James Earl Green, who was a high school student. Both were shot to death when law enforcement officers opened fire during protests on the campus in 1970.

Brown’s marker will eventually be moved to the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) Civil Rights Center on Lynch Street, at the edge of the Jackson State campus, after road construction is completed, said Robert Luckett, a history professor and director of JSU’s Margaret Walker Center. 

JSU President Denise Jones Gregory said the university’s annual event is to not only remember history but to keep alive the spirits of Gibbs, Green and James “Lap” Baker, who was also a student and survived the 1970 shooting. Baker died in January at 77 years old.

“We promise to speak their names and tell their stories here at JSU and beyond,” Gregory said. “We promise to channel our remembrance into action to support justice, equality and peace, and this is our charge and our commitment.” 

The event ended with Renae Baker and Nick D’Angelo Baker, the sister and nephew of James “Lap” Baker singing “Someday We’ll All Be Free,” by Donny Hathaway. 

“Someday, we all will be free,” Baker sang into a microphone. 

“Did you hear what I said?” she asked. “Someday, with all of the stuff going on in the world, one day, we won’t have to worry about all the stuff that’s going on, because we’ll be free.”

On Thursday, Arthur Brown said he was grateful for the dedicated historical marker and that his brother Ben has not been forgotten. 

“I hope you’ll always remember that he was a great person that wants the rights of all people, not just Black or white,” Arthur Brown said. 

At 16, Ben Brown protested the arrest of Freedom Riders and helped organize an economic boycott of downtown Jackson businesses with his peers. His activism continued into Freedom Summer 1964 with COFO, where he joined other volunteers in registering Black voters. 

After COFO dissolved in 1965, Brown became a field secretary for the Delta Ministry’s Freedom Corps, a coalition of voter registration organizers across the Mississippi Delta. When the Delta Ministry ran out of funding, Brown returned to Jackson. 

Brown’s historic marker is a declaration that Mississippi’s history cannot be erased, said state Rep. Zakiya Summers, a Democrat from Jackson. The marker reminds everyone that the struggle for civil rights also happened on campus, she said. 

Summers said Baker was “a bridge between generations,” where he dedicated his life to keeping the history, stories and memory of the Gibbs and Green tragedy alive. The greatest way to honor Baker is through collective action, she said. 

“Action that protects voting rights, action that protects truth and education and history, that expands opportunity and justice, that ensures that our young people here in the great state of Mississippi,” Summers said. 

Brown’s historical marker is part of an ongoing struggle to preserve history, memory and legacy for Black communities in the South, said John Spann, director of strategic initiatives at Mississippi Humanities Council. 

“In the face of erasure, remembering becomes an act of resistance,” Spann said. “It becomes a way of preserving truth, honoring dignity and asserting the full humanity of our people.” 

People looking for work, training opportunities or a new career path can meet directly with employers and workforce organizations at Clocked In, a workforce expo hosted by Mississippi Today, Deep South Today and the Foundation for the Mid South.

The free event takes place 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday at the Jackson Medical Mall, 350 W. Woodrow Wilson Ave. in Jackson.

More than two dozen organizations are expected to participate, including private businesses, public agencies, training providers, staffing groups and community organizations.

The lineup is expected to include Amazon, Dependable Source Corp., the U.S. Navy, the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office, Hinds Community College, Mississippi Department of Employment Security, The Bean Path, Metro Booming Training Academy, Surge Staffing and other workforce and community partners.

The expo will also include public conversations about workforce challenges in Mississippi, including hiring needs, certifications, training pathways and barriers for people to enter or stay in the workforce.

Clocked In is part of the Foundation for the Mid South’s Moving Mississippians Forward Through Employment initiative. 

Admission is free and the event is open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to bring résumés and come ready to speak with employers, training providers and workforce organizations. 

Senior U.S. District Judge  Tom Lee, who most recently presided over the guilty pleas of the “Goon Squad” of Rankin County law enforcement officers, will stop hearing cases next month in Jackson, closing out over 40 years since his appointment to the bench.  

Lee, 85, will assume inactive status in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. His existing cases will be assigned to other judges in the district. 

Chief U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden said Lee held himself to a high standard and maintained a level of professionalism and excellence throughout his tenure. That work earned him the respect of judges, lawyers and litigants. 

“The judges of our Court join me in congratulating Judge Lee on his lengthy record of dedicated

service to the federal judiciary,” Ozerden said in a Tuesday statement. “He has been a friend and mentor, and he will be deeply missed. We wish him all the best.”

Lee handled a range of civil and criminal cases, including personal injury lawsuits, Voting Rights Act violations and extortion. 

In 2024, he presided over the trial and sentencing of former law enforcement officers known as the “Goon Squad” who handcuffed, beat and shocked two Black men, Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker, during a warrantless raid of Parker’s home in January 2023. Lee sentenced the Rankin County sheriff’s deputies to between 17 ½ and 40 years in federal prison and he sentenced a Richland police officer who was also involved to 10 years imprisonment. 

Lee is highly regarded for his intellect and a reputation for fairness and integrity, Ozerden said. He is a true “gentleman judge” who demonstrates the qualities of humility, courtesy, compassion and civility – all valuable characteristics in a judicial officer, Ozerden said. 

Lee was appointed to the federal bench by President Ronald Reagan in 1984. 

He served as chief judge from 1996 to 2003. During his tenure, Lee oversaw the implementation of the district’s electronic case filing and management system that is still in use. 

Lee took senior status in April 2006 when he was succeeded by District Judge Daniel Jordan. 

WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee on Friday announced that he is ending his bid for reelection, his career upended by the redistricting battles that are sweeping the country after last month’s Supreme Court decision.

Republicans in Tennessee this month enacted a new U.S. House map that carves up a Cohen’s majority-Black district, reshaping it to the GOP’s advantage as part of President Donald Trump’s strategy to hold on to a slim majority in the November midterm elections.

“I don’t want to quit. I’m not a quitter. But these districts were drawn to beat me,” Cohen told reporters in his Washington, D.C. office.

Cohen is challenging the state’s redistricting effort in court and said that he would reenter the race if that lawsuit succeeded in restoring his old congressional district.

He lamented that Tennessee would likely shift to an entirely Republican congressional delegation after the next election, warning that it could also leave the state out of the loop once Democrats are able to regain the White House.

Redistricting targeted Cohen’s district

Tennessee was the first state to pass new congressional districts after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that significantly weakened federal Voting Rights Act protections for minorities. But more Southern states could follow. Republicans in Louisiana, Alabama and South Carolina also have taken steps toward redistricting.

Cohen has represented his Memphis-based district for about two decades, among the last of the white Democrats representing the South. He has been a longtime member of the House Judiciary Committee and has focused on strengthening voting access and civil rights.

“It’s unique in America that an African-American majority district has elected a white guy, and that we’ve got a great relationship, great amount of support,” said Cohen, who is also the first Jewish person to represent Tennessee in Congress.

READ MORE: Some Republicans call for Mississippi to gerrymander out state’s only majority-Black congressional district

READ MORE: Lt. Gov. Hosemann forms committee to study Mississippi redistricting

READ MORE: Gov. Reeves calls off Mississippi’s special session on judicial redistricting

Cohen was facing a primary challenge from state lawmaker Justin Pearson, a Black Democrat who represents Memphis in the state’s General Assembly. Pearson has said he will continue his campaign in the state’s newly redrawn 9th Congressional District.

But Cohen predicted that it would be nearly impossible for Tennessee Democrats to win a seat in Congress with the new districts. He added there was a chance the redistricting effort could “backfire on the Republicans” but that would require an “unbelievable registration effort among Democrats” and a massive vote turnout effort.

Cohen vows to oppose Trump

Sitting in his congressional office with staff looking on, Cohen pointed to photos of Memphis and local projects that he had championed during his career and expressed worry that Memphis voters would no longer have a voice in Washington. He also recounted how he had worked with the state’s Republican leaders to win funding during the Biden administration for a larger bridge to cross the Mississippi River into Memphis.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement that Cohen was “a powerful champion for civil rights” and that “the City of Memphis, the Congress and the nation are better because of Steve’s commitment to making a difference.”

Cohen said that the Republican’s redistricting effort was being done “for Donald Trump to get one more vote, he thinks, to stop them from being impeached.”

Still, he vowed to use his remaining time in Congress to try to mount opposition to Trump, calling the president “the greatest threat to democracy and to decorum and grace that we’ve ever seen.”

Like many lawmakers, Cohen has often attracted attention with colorful outbursts during congressional debates and hearings. During Trump’s first term, in 2019, Cohen brought a bucket of fried chicken to a House Judiciary Committee hearing at which then-Attorney General William P. Barr was a no-show.

“The message is Attorney General Bill Barr is not brave enough to answer questions from a staff attorney and members of the Judiciary Committee,” he said in a statement at the time.

While Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 as Congress tried to certify the results of the presidential election, Cohen screamed angrily at his Republican colleagues to “Call Trump. Call your friend. Tell him to do something.”

Cohen was among the first Democrats to join impeachment efforts for Trump in his first term, and he has signed on to articles of impeachment against Trump this year as well.

Memphis activists respond to new map

Meanwhile, Memphis activists grappled with the new political realities after the Republican-led legislature’s decision to divide the city’s longtime congressional district into three neighboring districts.

Advocates said they believed they could work with — and pressure — any lawmaker who will represent the city.

“Things are going to change. We’re aware of that,” said Tierney Macon, an activist with The Equity Alliance, a local civil rights group.

Macon, who protested at the Tennessee statehouse for days following the unveiling of the redrawn maps, said that activists aimed to hold the city’s new representatives in Congress accountable no matter their party.

“We just have to be engaged,” Macon said.

Demonstrations in the statehouse included chants accusing lawmakers of resurrecting Jim Crow, a system of state and local laws that for decades enforced racial segregation and disenfranchisement across the South.

___

Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Lisa Mascaro and Matt Brown in Washington contributed to this report.

Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens did not convince a federal judge that FBI agents posing as out-of-state developers entrapped him as part of a sting operation into public corruption in Mississippi’s capital city. 

But Owens can still try to persuade a jury that was the case, the same judge ruled. 

U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan denied Owens’ motion to dismiss bribery charges because of entrapment. The judge also blocked the prosecution’s motion to prevent Owens from mounting such a defense – one of many legal decisions the judge made in a raft of orders this week setting the stage for the July 13 trial involving the district attorney and two former Jackson elected officials. 

“Whether Owens can meet his burden based on the trial evidence remains to be seen,” Jordan wrote. “But the Court will not prevent him from attempting to prove his theory of the case.” 

The judge’s orders are the first time many details are coming to light about the defenses for Owens and his alleged co-conspirators, former Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and former Jackson City Councilmember Aaron Banks. 

Documents are unsealed

Dozens of filings in the case have been sealed from public view since earlier this year after Owens filed a fiery motion containing numerous sensitive exhibits, such as investigative files featuring unverified claims that Lumumba had connections to a local drug dealer. 

On Friday, Jordan ordered federal clerks to begin unsealing many documents. But he also indicated that some files will be restricted until the trial’s conclusion. Even then, certain ones will remain redacted. 

Jordan also denied requests from Lumumba and Banks to sever the trial. The former mayor had sought a separate trial in part because he views the district attorney as the “more culpable co-defendant,” the judge wrote. 

In its fall 2024 indictment, the federal government had included inflammatory comments from Owens. Lumumba had argued these statements could taint the jury’s perception of his alleged actions. Lumumba also argued that Owens’ legal strategy has, so far, resulted in blowback for him and that the former mayor will likely have no opportunity to cross-examine the district attorney at trial. 

In response to these concerns, Jordan wrote that he was optimistic about a jury’s ability to understand the sprawling saga. 

Lumumba “worries about the ‘many vulgar and amoral statements’ Owens made,” Jordan wrote. “But the Court believes under these circumstances — and with only three defendants — the jury will be able to keep the facts straight and follow the instruction to consider the defendants separately.” 

An indictment accuses Owens, Lumumba and Banks of allegedly taking bribes from real estate developers who were actually undercover FBI agents. Prosecutors allege the scheme worked like this: The agents funneled money through an unsuspecting Owens to Lumumba and Banks, who were then supposed to help the developers secure the city’s approval to use federal funds to build a downtown convention center hotel. 

The indictment quoted Owens at length bragging about his supposed ability to launder money and bribe local politicians. 

“That’s why we have businesses. To clean the money,” Owens allegedly told the undercover agents.

Prosecutors plan to play some of the recorded statements at trial, but Owens had hoped the judge would limit this activity. The district attorney argued that some of his comments have nothing to do with the charges he’s facing and are merely “prejudicial” – that is, designed to bias jurors against him. 

Jordan agreed with some of Owens’ points, but the judge noted that Owens’ chosen defense of entrapment had resulted in a double-edged sword for the district attorney. 

An entrapment defense requires a public official to prove they were not inclined to break the law without the government’s influence. This argument opens the door for prosecutors to show that the public official was already engaging in corruption. 

In Owens’ case, prosecutors could cite his comments. Jordan wrote that Owens’ statements could show his “predisposition – an issue for which he has opened the door by asserting entrapment.” 

Owens said in court papers that he is a diagnosed alcoholic and claimed the federal government entrapped him by plying him with alcohol. He said a “drunken rant” caused the salacious statements attributed to him in the government’s indictment, according to court filings. 

Lumumba says he took no ‘official action’

All three men going to trial have pleaded not guilty. Jordan’s orders revealed Banks does not intend to argue entrapment and it’s unlikely Lumumba will. 

Banks will argue he is innocent, while Lumumba primarily contends he did not take an “official action” in exchange for bribes from the developers.

In the indictment, prosecutors alleged that Lumumba accepted $50,000 in campaign donations in exchange for assisting the developers, who purported to represent a company called Facility Solutions Team, in obtaining the city’s blessing to build a convention center hotel in downtown Jackson. 

While on a yacht off the coast of Florida, the indictment alleges that Lumumba discussed the payment Owens was going to give him on behalf of the developers. Then he placed a call asking a city employee to shorten the bid window for the hotel development. 

Lumumba described this action as “ministerial at best,” according to court documents, thus not in line with how federal law and the courts have defined an official action a public official must take as part of a quid pro quo. 

But the judge pointed out a technical issue with this defense. Jordan wrote that none of the five charges for which Lumumba is actually indicted include the term “official action” in their statutory definitions. 

The judge also rejected arguments from Lumumba claiming that the federal government included falsehoods in the indictment. 

Jordan wrote that the former mayor claimed prosecutors sought to convince the grand jury that the city was under a time crunch to meet the terms of a federal loan backing the downtown development. 

In reality, the city had been granted an extension, according to Lumumba’s arguments. In response, prosecutors said the government had checked the dates of the loan with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. No extension was mentioned. 

“The Government contends … no one advanced the ‘narrative’ that Lumumba moved the SOQ deadline because he was desperate to secure a developer,” Jordan wrote. “Indeed, the Government’s theory is that Lumumba did not have the City’s ‘best interests in mind at all when he took that $50,000.’” 

Jordan wrote that Lumumba also plans to introduce a 35-minute speech that he gave during the fateful trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Prosecutors had claimed the speech would “confuse the jury,” but the judge wrote that he would allow Lumumba’s team to attempt to offer it as evidence at trial.

Mississippi Today Ideas is a platform for thoughtful Mississippians to share their ideas about our state’s past, present and future. Opinions expressed in guest essays are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of Mississippi Today. You can read more about the section here.    

Keeping energy affordable is a growing concern for Mississippi families, businesses and communities. As demand rises and gas prices fluctuate, the state is looking for ways to deliver reliable power without driving up costs.

Just a few years ago, utility-scale wind energy in Mississippi sounded unlikely—if not impossible. Today, turbines rising nearly 700 feet above the Delta are proving that assumption wrong and delivering fuel-free power to the state.

For decades, Mississippi sat on the sidelines of the wind industry. Today, a new generation of wind technology is changing what’s possible.

At the center of this new opportunity for Mississippi is the emergence of “tall wind” turbines, with tip heights reaching more than 700 feet. These turbines can access stronger, more consistent wind speeds at higher elevations —resources that older, shorter turbines could not capture.

Unlike traditional power plants that rely on fuel subject to price swings, wind energy has no fuel cost, which helps both lower and stabilize electricity prices over the long term. 

Data from 2024 to 2026 shows that onshore wind is frequently the most affordable source of new power generation, with global weighted average costs sitting at approximately $0.03–$0.05 per kilowatt-hour, which is often cheaper than building new natural gas or coal plants. For context, average retail electricity prices in Mississippi are typically more than double that range, meaning lower-cost generation sources like wind can play a meaningful role in keeping customer bills down over time.

In Tunica County, the Delta Wind project is Mississippi’s first utility-scale wind farm. It began operating in 2024 with 184.5 megawatts of capacity and generates enough energy to power tens of thousands of homes each year.

The project created hundreds of construction jobs, supports seven full-time local positions and is expected to generate millions of dollars in local tax revenue for schools and public services.

In addition to these economic benefits, projects like Delta Wind help diversify Mississippi’s energy mix by supporting grid resilience and price stability over time. It is a clear example of how modern turbine technology is turning what was once considered an unlikely resource into real economic and energy benefits for rural communities. 

Importantly, wind energy doesn’t compete with Mississippi’s agricultural identity. Instead, it complements it. Taller, more powerful turbines mean that modern wind energy projects can generate more power with fewer turbines. Wind turbines require only one-quarter to one-half acre per turbine for access roads and foundations, leaving the vast majority of farmland in production.

For farmer landowners, that means a reliable stream of lease payments that can help stabilize farm income in an industry often shaped by uncertainty.

Mississippi now faces a clear choice: embrace this momentum or risk falling behind. Capturing the full potential of wind energy will require thoughtful policy, continued investment and a willingness to rethink long-held assumptions about the state’s energy future.

Failing to diversify the state’s energy mix could leave Mississippi more exposed to future energy price volatility.

Wind energy is already delivering results in places like Tunica County. What is changing now is the scale of what’s possible, as new tower technology expands access for more of the state.

The success in Tunica County is an illustration of how wind energy can become a meaningful part of Mississippi’s larger economic and energy landscape.

Katharine Kollins is president of the Southeastern Wind Coalition, where she leads outreach and education efforts to advance land-based and offshore wind power across 11 Southeastern states. Since 2015, she has worked to grow SEWC into a trusted regional resource focused on economic benefits for communities.

Lisa Jo Chamberlin decided to speak out about her treatment in prison, including the past decade as the only woman on Mississippi’s death row. 

Speaking to Mississippi Today earlier this year, she raised issues about the isolation and restriction she has experienced in closed custody, including more time locked in her cell and less time to shower or go outside.  

After a Jan. 14 Mississippi Today article about Chamberlin’s treatment compared to the men on death row, her usual contacts said they were unable to reach her until the spring. Chamberlin said she was punished for speaking out with months of more restrictions and what she describes as retaliation. 

“It’s been a rollercoaster ride since I started caring,” Chamberlin said in a Thursday interview several weeks after she regained phone privileges. 

Since she has been under more restriction, Chamberlin said her mental health has worsened, which contributed to a Rules Violation Report writeup. 

Mississippi Department of Corrections spokesperson Kate Head did not respond to a request for comment about Chamberlin’s alleged conditions.

The Rev. Jeff Hood, one of her advocates, has called Chamberlin’s treatment the worst he’s seen, even as he communicates with death row prisoners from across the country and has served as a spiritual adviser in 11 executions. 

He and other advocates have pointed out how her treatment differs from that of the men on death row who have the ability to move throughout their own unit and have access to amenities such as a garden and privileges including freer use of tablets to message and talk with family and friends. 

“They treat her like she doesn’t exist,” said Mitzi Magleby, a Mississippi-based advocate who also was unable to contact Chamberlin for a few months.  

“I feel for her and what she’s going through. I feel like she’s not even given basic human decency.” 

J.R. Rainbolt, an adjunct professor who teaches college criminology and forensic psychology courses, began talking with Chamberlin last year as part of his research into the childhoods of women with death or life without parole sentences. 

In November, Chamberlin used her prison tablet to appear virtually as a guest speaker in one of Rainbolt’s classes – an experience he said students found invaluable and an event that gathered a lot of interest at the school. 

After the January article, Rainbolt said he lost contact with her until April. 

“I kept messaging her. She wasn’t responding. That was it for a while, and I was kind of dumbfounded. Maybe she didn’t want to communicate with me,” said Rainbolt, who is also a retired special agent and host of the podcast “Criminology Chats” through The Chicago School where he teaches.  

To help ease some of the restrictions, Chamberlin’s goddaughter, Laykin Bordelon of Tupelo, sent a letter to state and regional legal organizations and federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Civil Rights Division, requesting an investigation and improvement in Chamberlin’s prison conditions.

Bordelon documented examples of mistreatment, unconstitutional conditions and gender-based disparities Chamberlin has faced, including extreme isolation, punitive restrictions not applied to the men on death row and a severe decline in her mental health.  

Those issues mirror what Chamberlin previously shared with Mississippi Today and recently with Mother Jones, which first reported about the letter. 

“Lisa has had to endure this type of treatment on death row, and it is a systemic issue,” the letter states. “Her conditions are not the result of isolated incidents but reflect an ongoing pattern of unequal treatment, neglect, and punitive practices that are not applied to male death‑row prisoners.”

Bordelon said she has received an automated response from the DOJ confirming receipt of her report and the message gave an idea of what to expect next. Staff will review the report and determine whether to take on an investigation.

Bordelon was not available for comment, but she did give Rainbolt permission to share the letter and the DOJ’s response with Mississippi Today. 

Head, the MDOC spokesperson, did not respond to a request for comment about whether the department was aware of the letter requesting an investigation. 

Chamberlin has been incarcerated for over 20 years for the 2004 murder of two people in Hattiesburg with her then-partner, Roger Gillett. Both received a death sentence, but the Mississippi Supreme Court vacated Gillett’s sentence and in 2018 the trial court resentenced him to life without parole. 

She has filed appeals, and her most recent petition for post-conviction relief has been under consideration by the Mississippi Supreme Court since January. Her attorneys argue that unfair evidence about her sex life and failings as a mother introduced during trial violated her due process. They also said her claim is an exception to state law that enforces time limitations on appeals and limits repetitive filing for post-conviction relief.  

As of October, fewer than 50 women are on death row nationwide. Seven states including Mississippi have only one woman with a death sentence. 

Hood and Rainbolt have compared Chamberlin’s treatment to that experienced by Christa Pike, the only woman on death row in Tennessee. 

Pike spent years in solitary confinement until 2024 after successfully suing the prison system. The lawsuit settlement has given her more interaction with women in general population, the ability to earn opportunities the death row men have access to and work, according to the Death Penalty Information Center and local reporting.  

Chamberlin has said she is considering legal action around the conditions of her confinement. 

She said she will continue to speak out, including with reporters, even after what she went through earlier this year. Chamberlin said she has been told to keep quiet, but she has reached a point where she wants to advocate for herself and connect with others, whether that’s through interviews, writing or conversation. 

Since the renewed attention of Chamberlin’s prison conditions, she said she met with the women’s prison superintendent about easing some of the restrictions and restoring some of her privileges. 

But Chamberlin isn’t sure whether the changes will happen because she was told the prison doesn’t have the necessary staffing to escort her out of her building to places such as the chapel and the garden. Because of her custody status, only supervisory staff could escort herr, Chamberlin said. 

“It hasn’t happened,” she said.  “I don’t think it will until I make them make me a priority.” 

The families of four men who died or allegedly were beaten in encounters with Mississippi law enforcement gathered outside the state attorney general’s office Thursday to urge officials to stop denying them access to video capturing the incidents, years after they happened.

The families said officials have blocked them for up to three years from viewing video footage and other key police records that could shed light on what happened, leaving them with unanswered questions. Those cases are:

• Dexter Wade, 37, who was struck and killed by an off-duty officer driving a Jackson Police Department SUV in March 2023. His death garnered national attention. The department buried the father of two in an unmarked grave and did not notify his family until five months after he was killed.
• Jason Simmons, an armed 40-year-old from Saucier who was shot and killed in June by deputies with the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department after they arrived to pick him up for a court-ordered mental health evaluation, according to police. Simmons’ family said he struggled with substance abuse and mental health issues.
• Jayden Bridges, 22, of Pinola, who died in a car chase with a Mississippi Highway Patrol trooper in Copiah County last year after police suspected he was the subject of reports of drag racing in the area, according to the sheriff’s office.
• Raju Brandon Neapollioun, a Hattiesburg man who is now disabled from traumatic brain injuries after Deputy Sheriff Kelby Lewis allegedly beat him while he was an inmate at the Forrest County Adult Detention Center in 2023, according to a dismissed civil suit that Neapollioun filed against Lewis and the sheriff’s office.

As members of the public, the families have the right to request access to the information under state law, which broadly allows public records to be “available for inspection by any person,” with limited exceptions. But Bobby DiCello, the families’ civil-rights attorney, said state and local officials have continuously denied their requests, citing ongoing investigations into the incidents.

“If the video shows things that are bad, things that are inhuman, things that are wrong, things that are wicked, let it into the light,” DiCello said. “Let it be known.”

Like many states, Mississippi allows law enforcement to reject requests for information that may “harm” an investigation into illegal or potentially illegal activity, including officer misconduct. Unlike a handful of jurisdictions, such as Minnesota, Mississippi does not make exceptions for video of the incident, including for the victim’s relatives.

“Too often, incidents like these are hidden behind closed doors. Families like us, standing here today, are left searching for answers,” said Latarran Young-Neapollioun, Raju Neapollioun’s wife. “Seeing these many families here today only further verifies that Mississippi is still burning.”

Many questions, few answers

Before deputies shot and killed Simmons at his parents’ home, his cousin Niecee Rogers said the family always saw themselves as “pro law enforcement.” That all changed one evening last June, when his mother, Cynthia Simmons, called the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department for help while her armed son struggled during a mental-health episode.

“Her call for the sheriff’s office should not have been the death sentence for Jason,” Rogers said.

When deputies arrived, Simmons’ parents said their son believed the officers were trying to kill him. The sheriff’s office said Simmons opened fire and barricaded himself in a shed on the property, resulting in a four-hour standoff with the SWAT team.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said around 10 p.m., Simmons displayed a firearm, sparking an exchange of gunfire between him and the officers that left him dead. Cynthia Simmons said her son was shot eight times: Six bullets went into his back, and two into his arms.

Eleven months later, his family said they still haven’t been able to access video of the incident showing why deputies shot and killed Simmons. The quest for transparency brought them from Harrison County to Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office in downtown Jackson Thursday, where they called for the sheriff and attorney general to release footage of the shooting.

DiCello said the four families’ intentions weren’t to sue law enforcement, but to seek closure by fully understanding what happened to their loved ones through the information that police have. 

Over the last year, Jayden Bridges’ family has sought access to police dashboard camera footage in the hopes of getting answers to the questions that have lingered in his death in a car chase with a state trooper, beyond officers’ accounts.

The Copiah County Sheriff’s Department said his death occurred after state troopers noticed Bridges, driving a black Dodge Charger, and another car preparing to start a race after receiving reports of drag racing in the area.

According to police, a trooper pursued Bridges with his lights and siren while Bridges drove off at a high speed. Bridges and the trooper then lost control of their vehicles, and Bridges’ car hit a tree. He was later pronounced dead while the trooper had injuries that were not life-threatening.

Bridges’ relative, Junkevious Mack, denied officers’ allegations that Bridges was planning to race his car and that he crashed simply after losing control of his vehicle. Instead, Mack said the trooper maneuvered his vehicle to stop Bridges, causing the Charger to veer off the road into a tree.

Bridges’ family has unsuccessfully requested access to footage from the trooper’s dash camera documenting the chase. 

Families call for reform of public records law

When officers shoot civilians, the incident sparks an examination by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation under state law. The bureau reviews police records capturing the incident and shares findings with the attorney general’s office, which is responsible for prosecuting the shootings.

From there, the attorney general presents the findings to a grand jury, which then decides whether to issue an indictment for criminal charges.

The process can take years. Throughout it, state law allows officials to block the public from accessing information if the release might “harm the investigation” or “jeopardize” the attorney general’s ability to prosecute the case. This can include information ranging from police video to the names of the officers who shot the victim.

MBI has previously said its policy is to decline to release the names of officers involved in a shooting unless a grand jury decides to charge them. 

If the officers are never indicted, the information may remain hidden.

Joe Fouche, a former police chief who is now working to connect the families with mental-health support as they grieve, told Mississippi Today that during his time working in law enforcement, he saw officers attempt to keep the public from accessing video and other records documenting police shootings.

He joined the families in calling for Mississippi to reform state law to allow the relatives of a victim of force by law enforcement to view video footage of the incident.

“You think we’re going to use it to harm you,” DiCello said of state and local officials. “I promise you, if your biggest fear is what some of these families would do with that information, then you’ve got a bigger problem than them.”

Madeline Nguyen is a Roy Howard Fellow at Mississippi Today.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that people in all states can continue to access a key abortion medication through the mail. The ruling lasts indefinitely while an anti-abortion lawsuit continues. 

This is the latest development in a case Louisiana filed last year against the Food and Drug Administration, claiming that the availability of mifepristone via telehealth undermines that state’s abortion ban.

After the Dobbs decision overturned the constitutional right to abortion in 2022, 13 states enforced total abortion bans. Paradoxically, abortions across the U.S. increased since then, and states have sought other ways to mitigate the number of abortions taking place. 

Through a series of rulings over the past two weeks, access to mifepristone has been restricted and expanded several times: 

• On May 1, a lower federal court granted Louisiana’s request and rolled back telemedicine access to mifepristone. 
• On May 4, the Supreme Court put that ruling on hold for one week, through an “administrative stay,” allowing telemedicine prescriptions of mifepristone to continue. 
• On Monday, the Supreme Court temporarily extended full access to mifepristone through Thursday. 
• On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that full access to the drug would continue for the duration of the lawsuit. 

While there is no way to know how the case will turn out, it’s meaningful that the nation’s highest court made a substantive decision, said Mary Ziegler, a law professor and abortion historian at the University of California Davis. In maintaining access to the medication, the court sided with the drug’s manufacturers, Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, which appealed the ruling that would require patients to see a doctor in person to receive mifepristone. 

“It means the court to some extent must think that Danco et al have a good argument,” Ziegler said. “But we have absolutely no idea why, because they didn’t say anything.”

The consequences of the case will be felt by Mississippians “in a really, really big way,” Ziegler said. In 2023, two-thirds of abortions in the U.S. were medication abortions.

Medication accounts for 100% of abortions in Mississippi, which has a near-total abortion ban, Ziegler said. Each month, anywhere from 200 to more than 600 Mississippians use these drugs to terminate a pregnancy, according to research published by KFF.

For now, the high court’s decision allows providers and patients to resume the status quo — an “urgently needed relief after weeks of disruption,” Kelly Baden, vice president for public policy at the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research and policy organization, said in a press release. “But we are not fully celebrating yet, since this baseless litigation will continue in lower courts and other threats to mifepristone and abortion access overall loom large.”  

Attorneys for the state of Mississippi presented arguments on Thursday to dismiss a federal lawsuit accusing it of discriminating against the city of Jackson by withholding $36 million in pandemic recovery funds meant for infrastructure improvements.

On behalf of two Jackson residents and the city’s NAACP chapter, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed the complaint last summer. The lawsuit, which is asking the court to order the release of the funds to the city, focuses on extra barriers state lawmakers enacted for Jackson to access matching funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.

The SPLC is accusing the state, through three different state agencies in their official capacity, of racially discriminating against Jackson by requiring the majority Black city to submit a plan to receive matching funds through the state’s Municipality & County Water Infrastructure grant program, which would have gone to help repair the city’s struggling water system. The state Legislature, which created the MCWI program in 2022, didn’t include such a requirement for any other city.

U.S. District Court Judge Henry Wingate, who is overseeing the federal receivership of Jackson’s water and sewer systems, is also presiding in this case. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, which administered the MCWI grants, the State Treasury of Mississippi, and the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration are listed as defendants in the case.

A lawyer from the state attorney general’s office argued on Thursday that injuries included in the lawsuit are a result of the broader Jackson water crisis, not the specific lack of ARPA funds.

The plaintiffs’ “beef” is with the city of Jackson or federal receiver JXN Water, not MDEQ director Chris Wells or State Treasurer David McRae, attorney Lisa Reppeto argued to Wingate.

Moreover, ordering the state to now release the funds to the city would violate federal deadlines around obligating ARPA funds, she added. The law requires funds to be committed by the end of 2024 and spent by the end of 2026.

Jackson was awarded $36 million in matching funds in November 2022, SPLC attorney Crystal McElrath said. Shortly after, Wingate appointed JXN Water manager Ted Henifin to run the city’s water system, leaving little time for Jackson officials to access those funds, McElrath said.

When asked whether the city ever did submit a plan, McElrath pointed to previous spending plans published by Jackson officials, including a 2021 letter then-Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba sent to state leaders as well as the city’s 2012 infrastructure master plan. Reppeto countered that such plans couldn’t apply to MCWI requirements because they predated ARPA spending.

McElrath said the state has only sent $4 million of the matching funds to JXN Water, leaving $32 million that Mississippi officials are still holding onto.

Wingate closed Thursday’s hearing by saying he would meet with the parties next Monday morning before deciding whether to dismiss the case or to continue with the state’s other arguments for dismissal.