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“What I hope [ Clarke will ] do is seriously address the issues. Not gloss over them, say that she has heard about these violations, talk about them in detail and say that it is wrong if it is happening,” said Jill Collen Jefferson, civil rights attorney and founder of JULIAN.
Activist Jill Collen Jefferson said she hopes the trip Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, took to Mississippi this week to examine reports of police brutality, claims of unfair treatment in jails and hate crimes statewide, will result in real change.
“What I hope [Clarke will] do is seriously address the issues. Not gloss over them, say that she has heard about these violations, talk about them in detail and say that it is wrong if it is happening,” said Jefferson in a statement obtained by theGrio.
Jefferson, who is a civil rights attorney and founder of JULIAN, a non-profit civil rights and human rights legal organization, stated that several cities in Mississippi have a police brutality issue.
She told theGrio that her organization plans to file a lawsuit against the Lexington Police Department in the coming months after the department allegedly participated in patterns and practices of abuse against city residents.
Clarke’s visit comes just days after an 11-year-old boy was shot by Indianola, Mississippi police.
Carlos Moore, the attorney representing victim Aderrien Murry told theGrio, due to overwhelming evidence “this case should be an open and shut case.”
“There is no justifiable reason [Sgt. Greg Capers] should have shot a boy that followed his commands,” said Moore. “I don’t know why he would have shot him point blank center range in the chest. This young boy came within an inch of losing his life.”
On May 20, Murry’s mom, Nakala, prompted him to call the police at 4 a.m. because the father of her other children allegedly arrived to the home and threatened her, the Associated Press reported.
That’s when Sgt. Capers and another officer arrived at the home and kicked in the front door. According to Moore, Nakala informed the officers that the father of her children left the premises and that there was no longer a threat.
Things quickly escalated when Capers shouted into the home and instructed everyone in the residence to come out with their hands up.
Murry walked into the living room with his hands up and then Capers shot him in the chest. The 11-year-old boy said that he sang gospel music and prayed during the encounter to stay alive.
He was hospitalized for five days after sustaining several injuries including a collapsed lung, a fractured rib and a lacerated liver, the Associated Press reported.
“We have filed a $5 million lawsuit against the city of Indianola, the police chief and [Sgt.] Greg Capers for violating Aderrien Murry’s constitutional rights. His fourth amendment right to be free of excessive force and his fourteenth amendment for due process,” Moore told theGrio.
Moore told theGrio, Murry’s family “has suffered immensely.” He said the incident “shows there is a problem with police training and there is a systemic problem across racial lines. This was a Black officer, a veteran officer who did this.”
“It’s no way he should have been afraid of a 4’10 young child,” Moore added.
Murry’s family is demanding the police department terminate Sgt. Capers and Police Chief Ronald Sampson following the alleged use of excessive force.
At this time, Capers has been suspended with pay, according to the Associated Press.
Although an investigation into the shooting is underway, Moore told theGrio that investigators “have been very secretive.”
“The investigators have been radio silent, but I have taken matters into my own hands,” he said.
At this time Moore is working to acquire body cam footage and any surveillance footage that may have captured the incident. Moore believes video of the shooting “will confirm” Murry’s account of the events that unfolded.
“It’s going to be seared into the [public’s] consciousness to know that someone trained to protect and serve, shot an 11-year-old unarmed Black boy who had his hands up,” he declared.
At this time neither Clarke nor the Civil Rights Division have released a statement on the ordeal.
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