33
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Families of people buried in pauper's field next to Hinds County Penal Farm near Jackson, MS, are calling for a federal investigation into the burials, which took place without families being notified
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- Title
- 215 people have been buried behind a Mississippi jail since 2016, attorney says
- Authors
- Bill Chappell
- Published
- Jan 12 2024
- Word count
- 1001 words
The news story here has me wondering how often police in Mississippi investigate crimes committed by their own men, decide not to prosecute, and bury the victims in silence like this. It makes me think of the Phil Ochs song, Here's to the State of Mississippi.
What do you think, people of tildes? From my read, there's no way the cop who struck and killed this man isn't guilty of vehicular manslaughter at least. The lack of reporting and transparency is so suspicious. Do you think this is as corrupt as it sounds? What ought to be done here, and what authority could be trusted to investigate?
Sorry if this is old news. I learned about it recently and didn't see anything on tildes discussing the event.
Thanks for sharing this interesting article.
The title could use an update to “Hinds County” or “Jackson” because Jackson County is a few hours south on the coast.Thanks for the correction!
Edited the topic title to be a modified version of the article lede, since the article title is super vague, and the original topic title was potentially misleading. AFAICT, the Police never claimed the man or body was missing. The mother filed a missing person report for her son, who had already been killed by an off-duty police officer in a car accident, but the police supposedly somehow failed to connect the man to the missing person report until months later (despite him having State ID in his wallet).
I appreciate the title edit.
My understanding was that the police would regard the man as missing due to the missing persons report. The fact that he was very much identified, but buried and treated as a John Doe, even while there was a missing persons report is really alarming. Even more so given that the person responsible for his death was also a cop. It screams cover up to me personally, but I know that I carry a lot of bias, so I'm really wondering what other folks think/feel when reading this. Any thoughts?
I am familiar with the state and have been following this story and others for a while. If it feels like a cover-up, it's because it absolutely is and Mississippi has a long history with it. They're still reeling from the "Goon Squad" who were a group of cops that got away with brutality for years.
The Good 'ole Boy network is alive and well there and then it's further aggravated by the awful mix off racism, corruption, and police brutality. In fact these incidents feel like they mirror the very same horrors that occurred there in the 60s. The Neshoba Murders were only 60 years ago; local police arrested a group of civil rights activist and then collaborated with the KKK to have them killed upon their release.
In fact, their former governor, Phil Bryant, is related to the white woman who accused 14 year old Emmett Till of whistling at her in 1955. A taboo for a young black boy that was very likely a lie that Caroline Bryant told. Emmett would be kidnapped in the middle of the night and killed by her husband and others. They would later get away with no charges in a sham trial. The memorial plaque where his body was found is regularly shot up and recently had a group of students pose by it with guns.
Everything you think that is corrupt with this pauper's grave and every other case that comes out that state is as tinged with racism and hate that you think it is. It is a failed state that desperately needs the federal government to step in a clean up house or do something. When you factor in the persistent water failures in their capital of Jackson due to the Republican State Government refusing to help the Democratic, majority black city. See this ongoing reporting [1]
Or the ongoing TANF Scandel where state officials, including possibly the former and current governors, worked with NFL player Brett Favre to swindle funds into their own pockets. Literally money meant to help poor women and children. More reporting here [2]. The woman reporting on this story recently won a Pulitzer for her investigative journalism.
“To understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi.” - William Faulkner
Additionally, Nina Simone has some choice words in Mississippi Goddamn
I am only now reading your reply because I'm terrible about checking messages and replies, but holy cow.
I've heard different (but all bad) things about Mississippi over my years, but never heard about the issues in Jackson going on now, nor the repeated destruction of the Till memorial. That's crazy. How is this the same country as, shit, even Florida? Goddamn indeed. Literally.
I'm not American, but I think it's definitely suspicious as well. Hopefully the FBI investigates, not just that particular case, but the situation down there in general. 215 burials since 2016 with none of those people's families having been notified suggests either extreme incompetence, negligence, or potentially something even more nefarious going on.