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Tag: Mississippi

  • Mississippi passes bill prohibiting transgender individuals from using restrooms

    Mississippi passes bill prohibiting transgender individuals from using restrooms

    Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed a new law about where transgender people can use the bathroom, locker rooms, and dorms in public schools. This makes Mississippi the 12th state to restrict transgender students from using facilities that match their gender identity.

    Reeves didn’t like a rule that stops transgender students from using the school bathroom that matches their gender. Republican lawyers from Mississippi and a few other states are questioning the federal rules.

    “It’s amazing to see that this is what America has become under Joe Biden,” Reeves wrote on social media. A few years ago, it was hard to believe that we would have to make rules to protect women’s spaces. But now we are here. We need to make a rule to keep women safe in places like bathrooms, sororities, locker rooms, dressing rooms, shower rooms, and other places.

    The law says that all public schools in the state need to have bathrooms and living areas for boys and girls. They also need to have a bathroom and living area that anyone can use, no matter their gender.

    The new law says that people can only use spaces that match the sex they were born as, even if they look different or have had surgeries to change their gender. Anyone who breaks the rules might get sued, but schools, colleges and universities will not be held responsible.

    It says that people are male or female based on their biological characteristics at birth, regardless of how they feel or identify.

    Democrats said that the new rules for bathrooms and other places could be dangerous for transgender people during a discussion in the government. They also said that Republicans should not have focused on this issue because there were other things they needed to finish first.

    In 2021, Reeves passed a law to stop transgender athletes from playing on girls’ or women’s sports teams. Last year, he made a law to stop young people under 18 from getting hormone treatment or surgery to change their gender.

    Lawmakers in Mississippi are thinking about some new rules in the government. They are part of a bigger effort by Republicans to make it harder for transgender people to get the medical care and use the facilities they need.

  • Former Mississippi officers sentenced to 17.5 years for torturing two Black men in a racist manner

    Former Mississippi officers sentenced to 17.5 years for torturing two Black men in a racist manner

    A third ex-deputy sheriff from Mississippi has been punished for being involved in the racist torture of two Black men by a group of white officers. They called themselves “the Goon Squad. ” Daniel Opdyke was given a 17. 5-year prison sentence on Wednesday.

    Opdyke, who is 28 years old, cried a lot as he talked in court before the judge said what his punishment would be. He looked at the two people he hurt and said that being in prison has given him a chance to think about how he became a bad person that night.

    Opdyke said, “I will feel bad about the things I’ve done every day. ” “I want to make your pain go away. ”

    One of the victims, Eddie Terrell Parker, put his head in his hands, closed his eyes, and then got up and left the courtroom before Opdyke finished talking. The other person, Michael Corey Jenkins, said he felt “hurt” and “embarrassed” by the mean things done to him.

    United States Judge Tom Lee said Opdyke might not have known everything about what it meant to be in the Goon Squad when Middleton asked him to join, but he did know it meant using too much force. “You did not just watch, you were active. ” Lee said that you were involved in the brutal attack.

    All six of the officers admitted that they went into a house without permission and hurt the Black men with a stun gun, a sex toy, and other things. Christian Dedmon, who is 29 years old, was also going to be in prison for a long time when he was sentenced on Wednesday afternoon by Lee.

    On Tuesday, Lee sentenced Hunter Elward, 31, to almost 20 years in prison and Jeffrey Middleton, 46, to 17. 5 years in prison. He said their actions were really bad and awful. They, like Opdyke and Dedmon, used to work as deputies for Rankin County sheriff during the attack.

    Two other men, Brett McAlpin and Joshua Hartfield, are going to be punished on Thursday for their past roles as a deputy and a police officer.

    In March last year, The Associated Press found out that some deputies were involved in at least four violent incidents with Black men since 2019. Two men died and another was seriously hurt. Federal prosecutors announced charges in August.

    The ex-cops stayed with their lie about what happened to Michael Corey Jenkins and Parker for a long time, but then they confessed to torturing them. Elward confessed to pushing a gun into Jenkins’ mouth and shooting it during a “play execution” that went wrong.

    On Tuesday, the United States said. Attorney General Merrick Garland criticized the terrible attack on citizens that police officers had promised to keep safe.

    The frightening thing started in January. On March 24, 2023, a white person in Rankin County complained to McAlpin that two Black men were staying with a white woman at a house in Braxton, and asked for violence against them because of their race. McAlpin told Dedmon to text some white police officers and ask if they could help with something. Dedmon replied and said they should only use force on parts of the body that wouldn’t show in a photo.

    Once they got in, they put handcuffs on Jenkins and his friend Parker. They also poured milk, alcohol, and chocolate syrup on their faces. They made them take off their clothes and shower together to hide the mess. They made fun of the victims by using racist words and surprised them by using stun guns. Dedmon and Opdyke attacked them with a sex toy.

    Elward shot Jenkins in the mouth, hurting his tongue and breaking his jaw. Then, they lied to cover it up by putting drugs and a gun there. Jenkins and Parker were accused of things they didn’t do for many months.

    Rankin County, which is mostly white, is located just east of the state capital, Jackson. It has one of the largest numbers of Black residents compared to other big cities in the U. SA place where lots of people live and work, with buildings and streets. The police told Jenkins and Parker to leave Rankin County and go back to their side of the Pearl River.

    Opdyke’s lawyer Jeff Reynolds said on Wednesday that Opdyke was the first to admit what he did. On April 12, he gave investigators a WhatsApp conversation where the officers talked about their plan and what happened. If he had thrown his phone in a river like some other officers did, the investigators might not have found the secret messages.

    Reynolds also said that Opdyke was hurt in a sexual way when he was a child and saw the older deputies as father figures. That made him easily influenced by the bad behavior in the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office, Reynolds said.

    “When a new officer goes there, they start teaching people their beliefs,” Reynolds explained. “Where are the real leaders. Why aren’t they here in this court. ”

    On Tuesday, Elward’s lawyer also talked about a “culture of corruption” at the Sheriff’s Office.

    Dedmon and Opdyke, along with Elward, are getting punished after admitting to their part in attacking a white man in December. On January 4, 2022, which was a few weeks before Jenkins and Parker were hurt very badly. The victim’s name was revealed by prosecutors on Tuesday. His name is Alan Schmidt. Reynolds said Opdyke kept Schmidt from moving until Dedmon got there, but didn’t hurt him or touch him in a sexual way.

    Prosecutors read in court that Schmidt said Dedmon accused him of having stolen stuff when they were stopped by the police that night.

    The prosecutors said Elward and Opdyke did not stop Dedmon from hurting the victim. Dedmon punched and kicked the victim, used a Taser on the victim, shot a gun in the air to scare the victim, and then sexually assaulted the victim.

    Schmidt said Dedmon made him kneel down, took out his private part, and hit him in the face with it, trying to put it in his mouth. Dedmon then grabbed Schmidt’s private parts and rubbed against his body while he screamed for them to stop, Schmidt said.

    Schmidt said, “Who would do something so bad. They already have a lot of power over us, so they must be really sick in the head to behave this way. ”

    Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey, who started in 2012 and was elected again in November with no one running against him, did not give any information about why he fired his deputies last June. After they admitted they were guilty in August, Bailey said the officers had acted on their own and promised to improve the department. Jenkins and Parker want him to quit, and they are suing the department for $400 million.

  • Pastor shoots wife then himself after a Facebook post

    Pastor shoots wife then himself after a Facebook post

    Following a Facebook post, a pastor “shoots his wife then himself.”After writing on Facebook that he “may not be a perfect man,” but was a “family man,” the pastor allegedly shot his wife before killing himself.

    According to McComb Police Chief Juan Cloy, Louisiana pastor Danny Prenell Jr., 25, is suspected of shooting his wife Gabrielle Prenell, 27, in front of their kids at a Hampton Inn motel. He then turned the weapon on himself.

    According to Cloy, the shooting took place on Wednesday at around 3 o’clock.

    Two days earlier, Danny posted on a Facebook page he appeared to share with his wife, a photo of the two of them along with their three young children. He tagged the location as Hampton Inn & Suites McComb in Mississippi, where the shooting occurred.

    ‘I may not be a perfect man, but I’ll always be a family man,’ stated the post, along with the hashtags #HusbandFatherPastor and #FlawedYetFavored.

    Danny and his wife were transported to the University of Mississippi Medical Center, WLBT reported. Their conditions have not been disclosed.

    The pastor faces an aggravated assault charge, according to WAPT.

    Their children are under the custody of Child Protective Services.

    A photograph published by The Enterprise-Journal showed police tape blocking off a hallway at the hotel. Beyond the tape, blood splatters, a pillow and towels were strew across the floor.

    The motive of the shooting was not immediately known.

    Danny, a pastor at Bright Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church, posted often on Facebook about self-growth.

    ‘At the age of 25, I often hear that I’m far beyond my years. However, I never get satisfied with where I am….I’m constantly looking for more,’ he wrote on April 16. 

    ‘People with small minds will keep you locked up into what can fit into their heads. The God I serve doesn’t have a limit, and I’m staying faithful because I know my cup shall run over.’

    And the week prior to that, Danny posted on his wife’s birthday calling her ‘my queen’ and ‘the woman that I love and owe my life to’.

  • Police shoot 11-year-old in Mississippi after he called for help

    Police shoot 11-year-old in Mississippi after he called for help

    The family of Aderrien Murry, an 11-year-old boy who was shot by a police officer after calling for help, has stated that he has been discharged from the hospital.

    The incident occurred in Mississippi when police responded to a domestic disturbance call made by the boy and allegedly shot him in the chest, as reported by his mother.

    After being shot, the boy reportedly asked his mother, “What did I do?” The officer involved has been placed on leave pending an investigation into the shooting, which is being conducted by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

    Following treatment for a collapsed lung, fractured ribs, and a lacerated liver at a local hospital, the boy is now recovering at home. His mother, Nakala Murry, has demanded that the officer be fired and charged.

    During a press conference held on Monday outside Indianola City Hall, Nakala Murry explained that the father of one of her other children had arrived at their house early on Saturday morning and was behaving aggressively, leading her to instruct her son to call the police.

    When the Indianola officer arrived, Ms Murry later told CNN, he “had his gun drawn at the front door” and asked everyone inside to exit.

    As her son turned the corner of the hallway, the officer opened fire, striking Aderrien in the chest, she said.

    “His words were: ‘Why did he shoot me? What did I do?’ and he started crying,” Ms Murry said. “This cannot keep happening. This is not OK.”

    She said she had covered her son’s wound with her hand and applied pressure, blood pooling beneath her palm. The officer also assisted her in rendering aid, she said, until medics arrived.

    Aderrien was rushed to the University of Mississippi Medical Centre, where he was given a chest tube and placed on a ventilator.

    Ms Murry and her family’s lawyer, Carlos Moore, have called on officials to take further action. Mr Moore said the officer has been placed on paid administrative leave.

    “What are you waiting on? Someone to actually die?” Mr Moore said during the Monday press conference.

    According to him, the officer allegedly involved had been named the department’s “best officer”.

    “If he’s your best, Indianola, you need a clean house from top to bottom,” he said.

    At a sit-in protest outside City Hall on Thursday, Ms Murry, Mr Moore and about a dozen protesters said they were “demanding justice”.

    At a rally planned for Saturday, the group will demand the firing of the officer and the release of body-camera footage from the incident.

    Police have so far denied the footage request due to the ongoing investigation, according to Mr Moore.

    The Indianola Police Department told BBC News it is not currently commenting on the case.

    Over the weekend, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said it is “currently assessing this critical incident and gathering evidence”, and will submit its findings to the state attorney general’s office.

  • New tornado warning announced in Georgia hours after 26 lives were claimed

    New tornado warning announced in Georgia hours after 26 lives were claimed

    Only a few hours after a tornado killed 26 people in Mississippi, a tornado warning has been issued for Georgia.

    This morning, the National Weather Service issued warnings for a number of Georgia counties.

    President Biden issued a massive disaster designation for Mississippi earlier today so that residents could seek safety.

    This indicates that those who have been most negatively impacted will receive greater funding.

    The US ramped up recovery efforts today after huge wind gusts of up to 80 miles per hour flattened buildings.

    Search and recovery crews today resumed the daunting task of digging through the debris of flattened homes and commercial buildings.

    Further warnings were issued including those for high winds, large hail, and possible tornadoes.

    They were issued in eastern Louisiana, south-central Mississippi, and south-central Alabama.

    Following Biden’s declaration, funding can be used for recovery efforts in Mississippi’s Carroll, Humphreys, Monroe, and Sharkey counties, including temporary housing, home repairs, loans covering uninsured property losses, and other individual and business programs, the White House said in a statement.

    The tornado flattened entire blocks, obliterated houses, ripped a steeple off a church, and toppled a municipal water tower.

    The warnings put out this morning come after a tornado was observed near the city of Milledgeville, in central Georgia’s Baldwin County.

    A warning was also issued in Hancock County and a wider tornado watch remains in place for large sections of Georgia and Alabama.

    A ‘tornado watch’ means that tornadoes are possible in the area. Residents should be ready to act quickly if a warning is issued, the weather service said.

  • Mississippi mass shooting: Man kills ex-wife and five others

    Mississippi mass shooting: Man kills ex-wife and five others

    In a small rural town in the US state of Mississippi, a man with three guns fatally murdered his ex-wife and five other people during a shooting rampage, according to authorities.

    The victims were killed at several locations, including a store and two homes, in Arkabutla, a community of fewer than 300 people.

    Police have charged a 52-year-old local man with first-degree murder and held him at the county jail.

    No motive for his attack has yet been identified.

    The suspect is believed to have acted alone, said Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves.

    The rampage began when the gunman entered a petrol station convenience store at around 11:00 local time (17:00 GMT) and shot a man to whom he had no apparent connection, Sheriff Brad Lance said.

    He then went to a nearby home where he fatally shot his ex-wife and, according to CNN, struck but did not shoot her fiance.

    Investigators say the gunman then drove to a home next to his own residence and fatally shot a man who may have been his stepfather, as well as an unnamed woman, the New York Times reports.

    He then shot two people, one inside a car and one on the road, not far from his own home. The final two victims appear to have been construction workers on a job at the site, according to Sheriff Lance.

    Deputies spotted the suspect inside a vehicle matching witness descriptions and were able to apprehend him near his home after a brief car chase.

    “We don’t have a lot of violent crime here. This is shocking,” said Sheriff Lance. “I never dreamt that we would deal with something like that here.”

    He said the suspect had a shotgun and two handguns in his possession.

    A primary and secondary school in nearby Coldwater were placed on lockdown during the incident, which unfolded 45 miles (72km) south of Memphis, in neighbouring Tennessee.

    Ethan Cash, a 19-year-old local resident, told WREG-TV that he had seen the gun-toting suspect.

    Mr Cash said he also checked the pulse of the victim who died inside his vehicle and drew his own pistol on an injured man nearby who turned out to be the victim’s brother.

    Friday’s incident marks the 73rd mass shooting since the year began, according to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA) non-profit research database.

    GVA defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are injured or killed.

    Source: BBC

  • 2 police officers shot dead in Bay St. Louis Mississippi

    Two police officers have been shot dead in Mississippi in the early hours of early Wednesday morning in Bay St. Louis, according to officials.

    Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves identified the slain officers as Officer Branden Estorffe and Sgt. Steven Robin, according to a tweet from his verified account.

    “I am heartbroken by this terrible loss of two brave law enforcement officers. I am praying for their family, friends, their fellow officers, and the entire Bay St. Louis community,” Reeves wrote. “Mississippians will never forget the sacrifice of these heroes.”

    The two officers received a call for service at a Motel 6 on Highway 90, according to a news release from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. The officers encountered a woman who shot both officers before turning the gun on herself.

    One officer died on the scene, and the second officer was taken to the hospital but later died.

    Bay St. Louis Police Chief Toby Schwartz said at a Thursday news conference that both Robin and Estorffe were “trusted colleagues and outstanding officers.”