Police shooting of a 1-year-old Mississippi boy ignites tension between police and Black residents

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A fatal shooting 1 year old boy caught by police This week, responding to a burglary call sparked growing tensions between police and black residents in the small town of Senatebia, Mississippi.

Kohen Wiley’s death was the latest in a series of troubling encounters with police that have angered community members in recent years. This sparked protests and calls for greater police accountability in the town of 8,000; Some civil rights activists cite Kohen’s death as yet another example of black lives being lost over something of nominal value (in this case, allegedly stolen diapers).

“We treat the items on the shelf as more valuable than a child,” Bernice King, daughter of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., said in a statement posted to Instagram on Wednesday. “This isn’t just bad policing; it’s a moral collapse.”

Different explanations for what happened

There are still many unanswered questions about the conflict and what led to it.

Senatebia police responded to a shoplifting call at a local Walmart on Sunday, where they saw two women and a child leaving the store and getting into a car and driving away. According to a statement from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation: “Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers and nearly hit the officers. An officer then fired his gun and the vehicle fled the scene.”

Kohen’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, said that her son and his friend who was driving the car were shot. In a video posted on social media Wednesday by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, Wiley said his friend didn’t go toward the cops because the cops “were all on the right side and he was going to the left.”

She also disputes the theft claim in the video, saying she believes her friend paid for the diapers she was carrying.

Ian Adams, a police expert who teaches criminal justice at the University of South Carolina, said a police officer should not shoot at a car, regardless of the circumstances.

“Modern police know that shooting at a moving vehicle is a very bad idea and should be avoided at all costs,” Adams said. First, “there were other passengers in the vehicles and that is clearly a concern in the current case.”

Shooting reignites racial justice concerns

Kohen, like her mother and her friend, was black, and the circumstances leading to Kohen’s death were immediately compared to another black mother who was shot in response to a shoplifting accusation.

in 2023 Ta’Kiya Youngpregnant, shot by police After trying to capture him in a Columbus, Ohio suburb. Police said Young, who is also the mother of two young sons, got into her car and accelerated toward the officer, who shot at her through the windshield. Both Young and her unborn daughter were killed.

In this case the police were acquitted of the charges and He justified his use of force by a review board.

These two deaths added to a long list of Black Americans who died in interactions with police after the incident. accusations of minor crimes. This list includes: The murder of George Floyd in 2020Man killed after police responded to a call about using a counterfeit $20 bill at a Minneapolis grocery store.

For some racial justice advocates, such cases are a constant reminder of the consequences of systemic racism in law enforcement.

“In the name of ‘law and order,’ a child was murdered and a family was torn apart over items that could have been restocked, deleted and replaced,” King wrote on Instagram. “Our charge is clear: Until the sanctity of human life is the starting point of every police encounter, we must demand changes in training and work tirelessly to reform police accountability policies.”

Tension in Senatebia

Marquell Bridges, president and founder of an advocacy group called the Building Bridges Coalition that is assisting the Wiley family, said Kohen’s death was “just a tipping point” after years of problematic interactions between black citizens and police.

Bridges pointed to an encounter last year in which a police officer threatened Breshari Faulkner with a stun gun, knocked her out of her car and arrested her during a confrontation over disabled parking in the same Walmart parking lot where Kohen was shot.

Two years ago, sometime in 2023 Senatebia officer fired for his role in the arrest of a 10-year-old Black boy who urinated in a different parking lot. The boy’s family settled a federal lawsuit with the city earlier this year.

“There’s a culture out there that they’re above the law just because they’re wearing a uniform,” said Carlos Moore, a civil rights attorney who represents the 10-year-old and others who have accused the department of misconduct.

Police did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press. The mayor and city council members also did not respond to messages.

About 40% of the city’s population of about 8,300 is Black, according to 2020 Census data. Polis did not respond to questions about the racial makeup of the department, but the mayor and the majority of Alderman Board members are white. The city has elected only three Black aldermen since it became a municipality in 1860, according to the Tate Record, a local newspaper.

Bubble blowing toy lawn mower

The police officer who shot Kohen and the woman driving the car he was in has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard practice, while the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is investigating what happened. They promised to release video of the attack once the investigation was completed.

Kohen’s grandmother, Veronica Roberson, was there when Kohen was born and frequently babysat him. She described him as a happy little baby who “had the most beautiful smile you could ever imagine.”

She said he was a sweet boy and said: “He loved me, and I loved him. We loved each other.”

One of his favorite toys was a small lawnmower that blew bubbles when pushed. He would sit outside with her while Roberson played with her. “He really thought he was mowing my yard,” she said, laughing a little at the memory. “That baby was my world.”

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Loller reported from Nashville, Tennessee. Jack Brook contributed from New Orleans. Aaron Morrison contributed from New York City.