Two boys aged 17 and 16 were arrested by U.S. Marshals in Jackson, Mississippi on September 16, on charges related to August shootings that occurred in Canton. One officer is seen leading a shirtless and handcuffed boy through a line of officers. Then another officer reaches out to hit the boy across his face. He makes a loud sound and leaves him with bleeding from the nose or mouth. A lawyer representing one of these teens and his mother said that both the boys claimed officers assaulted them while they were handcuffed. He also whipped them with a green extension cable, which was not visible by the cameras. The FBI and Justice Department are currently investigating the incident. They are part of U.S. Marshals Service Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force. The U.S. Marshals Service Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force is a federally funded unit. It shot and killed a man aged 20 in Memphis, Tennessee while serving a warrant in Mississippi for a shooting in 2019. The task force was established in 2006. It operates in Alabama, Mississippi, and deputizes state or local officers as marshals. This gives them greater power to target violent criminals. They are granted conferred status which allows them to operate across jurisdictions and make arrests with no warrants. The marshals don't wear body cameras.
Instead, the September arrest was captured by a Ring camera on the Ring doorbell. Jacksons local CBS affiliate WJTV covered a segment of the footage where an officer hit and yelled at one boy. The boy then called into the security camera to ask his mother who was away at the time. The Intercept obtained additional footage that shows officers berating the boys and a middle-aged lady taking what appears to have been the green extension cord. The mother of one of these boys claims that at least one national network had all the footage, but she has not pursued a story. The woman in the video was house-sitting at the time. She claimed that officers struck her in the head, pointed guns at her, and then pushed her to the ground with handcuffs. The woman in the video is Cawanda Harris' godsister and mother to one of the teens. She asked not be identified by the media. Both women claim that neither the officers nor the teens were issued an arrest warrant.
The U.S. The U.S. Marshals Service is aware of an incident involving members of our multiagency Gulf Coast Regional Task Force in Mississippi, Justice Department Office of Public Affairs spokesperson Aryele Brady stated in a statement to The Intercept. The U.S. The U.S. Marshals Service is committed to investigating any allegations of misconduct made by our task force partners or personnel. We are currently collecting information about the incident. The FBI, United States Attorney Office, and Department of Justices Civil Rights Division have all opened an investigation. If the investigation uncovers any prosecutable violations of federal criminal statutes by the Department, the Department of Justices will take appropriate action. Marshals Service is currently gathering information about the incident. The Harrises are represented by Blackmon and Ben Crump, a national civil rights lawyer. Blackmon explained to The Intercept that the issue is not the validity or execution of the warrant.
The severity of the charges and allegations against the boys may have sparked little interest from the mainstream media. Both boys were charged in August's Canton shootings. A 17-year old brother to one of the boys and another 24-year old man were also charged. The incident resulted in two deaths, including a 6-yearold boy and the injury of another man. Although the boys are presumed innocent, until proven guilty, law enforcement agencies and media including local outlets covering the arrest are not framing them that way. Numerous local media outlets published stories that included the full names of the boys, as well as their mug photos, despite the fact that they are minors. WLBT reported that the boys were suspects in the August shooting before their arrests. This treatment is part of a dangerous trend in which media portray young Black boys as menacing adults. This approach has been influencing the coverage of high-profile police shootings of Black men over the past decades. The footage shows Harris' godsister being taken to the ground by officers who handcuff her as she lies on her stomach. While Harriss godsister tries to explain she is house-sitting, officers ask her to identify one the nearby boys. While she's lying facedown on the floor, one officer hits her with a slap on the shoulder. Another officer informs her that she and another officer will be going to jail. He says, "I think you're making me dumber." God damn, shut up!
You are supposed to uphold the law. You are supposed to protect and serve, but you don't.
An officer later leads a second boy, who is shirtless, out of the house. One officer hits the first boy with his fist. The second boy is being walked by the officer. A third officer hits him across the face. This loud sound draws blood and causes the boy to scream. The boy who was struck and Harris' godsister both said that the officer had a black object in one hand. The video footage does not show what the officer may be holding. It is extremely hurtful to see any adult or law enforcement officer do this to a child. Harris' godsister said that you don't do this to anyone and that you don't treat anybody that way. She stated that she would like to see officers held accountable and prosecuted. Because you are supposed to uphold the law. You are supposed to protect and serve, but you can also harm. I'm curious to see how you will uphold the law if you break it.
Photo: Courtesy Cawanda Harris
The task force was featured in a bizarre video by Darkhorse Press a few weeks before their arrest. It features images of confiscated paraphernalia, footage of people being detained for drug possession, and traffic stops. Advertisements for local gun shops, pest control services, or propane delivery flash. Operation Washout was an initiative to get lawbreakers off the streets. It focused on Jackson's gang enforcement and violent crimes. Darkhorse Press claims to be a news website, but the video that highlights one officer who is well-known for his speeches to youth about staying out of trouble reads more like public relations for law enforcers. Darkhorse also highlights crimes in Mississippi and arrests. In 2019, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation launched a probe into the Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force's involvement in the Memphis shooting of Brandon Webber, 20. The officers were trying to issue a warrant for Webber's arrest and allege that he was involved in a shooting incident in Mississippi. They claimed Webber drove his vehicle with his own and brandished a gun. Webber was shot at least 17 times by the marshals, and he died in his mother's driveway. TBI had closed its investigation last year and handed its findings to Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich. Weirich stated in July that her office would no longer prosecute the members of the taskforce for the shooting. The Marshals Service stated that it would conduct an internal investigation. Memphis witnessed protests after Webber was shot and killed by task force members in June 2019. Blackmon did not know that the regional task force accused of attacking his client had also shot and killed another person. It is not clear whether Webber's murder suspects were among those arrested in September. In response to a question regarding the identities of officers, Dave Oney, Marshals Service spokesperson, stated that we do not disclose or discuss information about individuals or groups of people assigned to USMS task forces. The Intercept submitted a public information request in order to identify both officers involved in the arrests as well as to receive the results of the Marshals Services review.
He didn't resist arrest. They were both in handcuffs.
