Unfortunately, racially-motivated police brutality continues to be prevalent throughout the US. One example is Jaheim Mcmillaan, aa 15-year-old boy who was a victim back in October, yet his story was not covered in the news internationally. He still has not received the justice that he deserves. 

What happened?

Jaheim Mcmillan was a 15-year-old boy at the time of his death. He and four other boys were in a car near a Dollar Tree in Mississippi on October 6th, 2022. When Jaheim ran away from the police and into the store, a Mississippi police officer shot at him 8 times. One of the officers claimed he saw a gun in his hand, but when actually coming up to him did not see the gun.

The police officers originally claimed they did not have body-cam footage because their cameras were not working. However, when body-camera footage was released 5 months after the shooting, it showed that Jaheim may have been armed. But, with the release of this footage so long after the incident, it is possible that the footage was edited/altered.

The police officer also originally claimed that Jaheim was pointing the gun toward the officer and began shooting, so he shot back. Even in this possibly-edited version of the body-cam footage though, Jaheim is not pointing a gun towards the officer, and in fact was running away. At the end of the footage, an officer also tells somebody to turn the camera off.

At the end of the day, whether Jaheim was carrying a gun or not does not matter. It is not the police’s right to take somebody’s life away, especially at this young age. Jaheim was not shooting at the officer, and the police department’s side of the story does not create a coherent narrative.

It seems that this incident was racially motivated, as much of police brutality in the US is. In the Emanuel AME Church shooting in 2015, killer Dylan Roof was able to exit the church with absolutely no harm to him. In this case, Roof had clearly put others’ lives in danger and was quite literally a mass murderer, but he still was arrested safely. Meanwhile, someone like Jaheim who was just running away from a police officer and had not actually done anything, was fatally shot.

Whether or not people want to speak about it, this is the reality of police brutality in America. People are being shot for no other reason than the color of their skin. 

What is happening now?

In February, the Office of the Mississippi Attorney General released a statement claiming that “The grand jury today reported that it found no criminal conduct on behalf of the officer involved” and that “ no further criminal action will be taken by this Office in this matter.” After four months of waiting and multiple protests, absolutely no punishment will be received for the officer. In today’s America, an officer can get away with murdering someone and still not face any repercussions.

According to a professor at  Bowling Green State University’s research, less than 2% of officers who killed civilians in the line of duty were charged with a crime. Sadly, the reality is that innocent minorities are more likely to get charged with a crime than a police officer who murdered someone. 

What can you do?

There are several things you can do to help this boy receive justice. For one, you can sign this petition: https://www.change.org/p/justice-for-jaheim-mcmillan-update-the-bottom.

You can also contact the Deputy Chief of the Investigative Services Bureau in Mississippi demanding justice through their phone number at (601) 960-1890. 

Emails could also be sent to the Office of the Mississippi Attorney General, regarding the unfairness of the ruling, at https://www.ago.state.ms.us/contact/

I, Ellyse Ramos, am absolutely disgusted by the horrific reality of America’s systematic racism and police brutality. Our country needs radical change, but all of that starts at knowing the stories of innocent victims like Jaheim and taking action.

Sources: 

https://www.mississippifreepress.org/31378/jaheim-mcmillan-shooting-video-released-but-no-indictment-for-gulfport-officer

https://policebrutalitycenter.org/police-brutality-statistics/

https://www.change.org/p/justice-for-jaheim-mcmillan-update-the-bottom