Mississippi AG Office Sides With Police By Declining To Prosecute Officer-Involved Shootings With Black Victims

Someone needs to stand up for the victims....

The Mississippi Attorney General decided not to prosecute some police officers and cleared others involved in officer shootings — including those with Black victims — between 2022 and 2024, Mississippi Today reports.

Records from the Department of Public Safety reveal there have been 65 officer shootings across the state since 2023, under the leadership of AG Lynn Fitch, resolving close to 40% of them by declining prosecution, including those involving Black victims. Of those cases, approximately 30 people died, and at least 30 were injured.

A number of the incidents from 2023 were victims who called the police. Aderrien Murry, an 11-year-old Black boy, was shot in the chest by an Indianola police officer after police were called to his mother’s home. A Sunflower County grand jury decided not to indict the officer, Sgt. Greg Capers, in December 2023. A case involving a Gulfport officer shooting 15-year-old Jaheim McMillan also failed to be indicted by a grand jury in 2022.

According to WAPT, officers were even justified by Fitch’s office in using force in five shootings between 2021 and 2023, including a shootout with escaped inmate Dylan Arrington. Arrington, who is white, broke out of the Raymond Detention Center and barricaded himself inside a home close to 70 miles northeast of the jail. The former inmate set the home on fire after exchanging gunfire with officers in April 2023. His body was found in the charred home.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI) closed 40 cases between 2023 and 2024, with an average time between the shooting and submission of the case revealed to be close to 181 days, or approximately five and a half months. Twenty-four cases have remained open, most being from shootings occurring in late 2023 or 2024. A spokesperson for Fitch’s office, MaryAsa Lee, defended the finding, saying there are several elements that declare whether the case is dismissed or not. “Each case is different, including the complexity of the fact pattern, number of parties involved, and available evidence, and each case is reviewed thoroughly and independently,” Lee said in a statement.

“We seek to have a complete picture of the incident, considering all relevant facts and evidence.”

“After cases are closed, they are sent to the attorney general’s office, which has been given the responsibility to prosecute law enforcement shootings since July 2022. Once in the hands of the attorney general, it then takes more time for the office to review the incident and determine if an officer’s use of force was justified. “Ultimately, by seeking truth and justice, we hope to bolster the credibility of our legal system and trust between the men and women of law enforcement and the communities in which they serve,” Lee continued.

Some cases involving Black victims have secured convictions, including sentences for five former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies and a former Richland Police Department officer labeled as the “goon squad.”

All the officers were found guilty of torturing two Black men in January 2023.