I hadn't heard anything about this before but this is a pretty horrific story. http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...ed-and-burned-family-says?lite&lite=obnetwork Slain Mississsippi mayoral candidate was dragged and burned, family says JACKSON, Mississippi - A gay, black mayoral candidate killed last week in Mississippi was beaten, dragged and set on fire before his body was dumped near a river, according to his family. In a statement issued late on Sunday, the family of Marco McMillian said a coroner who performed an autopsy on his body told them about the gruesome manner of death. "We feel this was not a random act of violence based on the condition of the body when it was found," said the McMillian family. "Marco, nor anyone, should have their lives end in this manner." But the Coahoma County Sheriff's Department, which is leading the investigation, has released few details about the killing or a possible motive. Law enforcement officials say the killing is not being treated as a hate crime. Coahoma County Coroner Scotty Meredith declined to comment on the family's statement that McMillian was beaten and burned. The body of McMillian, a 33-year-old candidate for mayor of Clarksdale, Mississippi, was found on Wednesday. A day later, law enforcement officials arrested a 22-year-old man, Lawrence Reed, who is also black, and charged him with murder in connection with the case. McMillian was one of the first viable openly gay candidates to run for office in Mississippi, according to the Victory Fund, a national organization that supports homosexual candidates. Autopsy results are not expected to be released until toxicology tests are complete, which could take two or three weeks, Meredith said. McMillian had been missing since February 25 when his sport-utility vehicle was involved in a head-on collision in a rural part of Coahoma County in the Mississippi Delta. McMillian was not in the vehicle at the time of the accident. McMillian recently moved from Memphis back to his hometown of Clarksdale to run for mayor as a Democrat. He had faced state Representative Chuck Espy, a Democrat, and former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Luckett, an attorney, along with two other candidates. McMillian's campaign focused on reducing crime and unemployment in Clarksdale, a city of roughly 18,000 people, said campaign spokesman Jarod Keith. A once-booming agricultural community, the city has steadily bled residents and jobs over the years and now faces high levels of violence and unemployment. Another Democratic candidate for mayor, Doris Haynes Miller, said she recently was robbed at gunpoint in the town.
This is horrible act by whoever did it and for whatever reason. But that said, I don't think anyone says discrimination has been eradicated. There are still plenty of places in the US that people simply get killed because of their race or way of life, not just blacks. The difference is now its strongly frowned upon to be a bigot.
There is no proof he was killed over discrimination. For all we know he could have been in something dirty, and died because of the result for that. I understand the notion that he was discriminated against, but the facts are unclear. Just like I can't not factually say he died in result to being corrupt.
are there any reports of him being corrupt? are there other reports of these kinds of deaths in the area where the victim/s are proven to be corrupt?
Who says discrimination doesn't exist? I certainly think small towns like this in rural areas of our country are very corrupt and in some cases racist. I do however, find this statement interesting.. Why are the police not commenting on anything? What does this 22 year old black guy have to do with his murder? What suspicions do they have? There is obviously a lot of the story missing.
I don't know of anyone who says it isn't a problem, you aren't going to eradicate all of the assholes in the world. Sorry.
I understand that lol. I was trying to imply that it could be discrimination on behalf of the law enforcement there. I didn't do to well of a job doing it though. Since the guy is black, it can't be a racial issue, unless the law enforcement is white and protecting their own people. I wouldn't be surprised one bit given the location of the area.
You are already jumping to the theory that the black man arrested is being framed simply because he is black and the victim is black? I'm about to blow your mind: Black people kill black people.
You don't say? I had no idea black people kill black people. I just gained so much knowledge from your post. I was stating it in response to the "discrimination doesn't exist" comment. I am simply stating it is plausible in that part of the country. You obviously do not understand that things like this still happen. Take the James Byrd Jr killing in Jasper in 1998 as an example. The way this guy died, was obviously racial or discrimination. He wasn't just shot in the chest and left there. Stop being so close minded and broaden your view on things.
No, but just because he was gay and black doesn't mean he was killed for that reason. I'm not saying he WAS corrupt, but it's not out of the question.
The only thing that will drive some one to drag another person to death, then burn his body is HATRED. I don't know if that hatred was caused by race or orientation, but the culprit needs to be caught and held responsible.
This is a terrible story but the excerpted above caught my eye as really strange. He went missing when his car got into a wreck? If he wasn't in the car, what does it have to do with him being missing? I am guessing they realized he was missing when they tried to contact him about his car but it is really odd to throw that in there the way it was. As a reader I can concoct all sorts of crazy stories that tie the car accident to his being missing, though.
The guy accused of his murder was driving the SUV at the time of the wreck. I read some other articles to see if there was more information, which is how I found that out.
I reluctantly agree with texxx. There are too many things it could be and not enough public information to go on. Just because it happened in Mississippi doesn't mean corruption or racism was a factor. The fact that the feds aren't all up in their business indicates to me that the FBI couldn't find any such angle on the case. You know the FBI must have looked at it already.
