Protesters demanding justice in police killing of Gulfport teen want one thing: body cam video
It’s been nearly two weeks since a 15-year-old was shot in the head by a Gulfport police officer.
And every day since Jaheim McMillan died, protesters return to the Family Dollar on Pass Road. Back to the place where the Gulfport High freshman was killed. Back to where numerous witnesses posted live video to Facebook as McMillan’s body lay near the entrance. Back to the store that has a memorial of flowers and windows plastered with posters made by the community:
“See no color. Don’t shoot.”
“I’m Black and I’m proud.”
“I am his voice and I will be heard.”
“Justice for Jaheim NOW.”
Marquell Bridges, a Gulfport resident who is helping organize demonstrations, said protesters will continue to rally every day until police release body camera footage from the Oct. 6 shooting.
“It’s cold,” Bridges chanted into a loudspeaker Tuesday afternoon as temperatures dropped. “Release the video so I can go home.”
Gulfport Police Chief Adam Cooper said McMillan was shot after he pointed his weapon at officers. Before that, he had refused to follow police commands to drop his weapon.
But some witnesses who say they were at the scene contradict the police department’s account that McMillan was holding a weapon.
Bridges said releasing the footage would be a step in the right direction in healing the relationship of the Black community and Gulfport police.
“If their narrative is the truth, then they should be anxious to show the public,” he said.
On Tuesday, dozens of cars honked their horns in solidarity with the protesters as they drove down busy Pass Road.
Bridges and three women bundled up with jackets and chanted during rush hour as the cars passed:
“No justice. No peace.”
“Hands up. Don’t shoot.”
“Justice. Jaheim. Justice. Jaheim.”
When stopped at a red light, some drivers shaped their hands into hearts or raised their fists as Bridges’ voice barreled through the air, even above car radios and traffic.
“We’re out here to raise awareness,” Bridges told the Sun Herald. “We’re not going to stop protesting … until we get justice for Jaheim.”
Gulfport police account of shooting
Cooper released details surrounding McMillan’s killing last week at the police station in downtown Gulfport.
He said police responded to the area of Pass Road near the Family Dollar after receiving a 911 call from a driver that a car full of armed people were following him. When officers arrived at the scene, Cooper said, they made contact with a Kia Soul in the parking lot of the store.
All five occupants fled the car, and McMillan, who police said was armed and wearing a mask, ran toward the store.
“The officer gave orders to him to stop and drop his weapon. McMillan did not comply,” Cooper said. “McMillan turned his body and his weapon toward the officer. The officer fired at McMillan.”
McMillan was taken to Memorial Hospital at Gulfport, then a Mobile, Ala., hospital where he died.
Gulfport police arrested the four other minors. They told officers in interviews that McMillan and two other teens were wearing masks and waving a gun, according to records. Police recovered a mask and various guns in the car.
The officer who shot McMillan has not been identified. The officers involved in the shooting are on non-enforcement duty, Gulfport police Sgt. Jason Ducré told the Sun Herald.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident, which is standard practice after a law enforcement agency is involved in a shooting.
For decades, MBI had a history of denying requests to release video footage, reports and other information in police shootings.
But Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell last year vowed to provide more transparency to the public and released video footage and other reports in previous police shootings once grand jury reviews had concluded without any criminal indictments handed down.
Tindell has not released any camera footage of McMillan’s shooting despite repeated calls from the public for authorities to do so.
The Sun Herald obtained what MBI described as the incident report that only contained the date, time and location of the shooting and that a juvenile was involved. No other information, such as what prompted the police response, was included.
Gulfport police denied access to an incident report despite state law making incident reports public records.
Protesters, some witnesses say teen wasn’t armed
Bridges contests the police’s account of what happened Oct. 6, saying many witnesses on the scene told him McMillan was not armed when he was shot.
Videos from the scene after the shooting have surfaced on Facebook and TikTok. No witness videos published online have showed the actual shooting.
“Too many witnesses saying they shot him with hands up, Black and white,” Bridges said. The latest video from the scene in the aftermath of the shooting shows a man telling a police officer he witnessed a different officer shooting McMillan “point blank.”
“We don’t need any more statements from the police chief … no more statements from DPS (Department of Public Safety). We need the body-cam footage,” Bridges said.
McMillan’s mother, Katrina Mateen, and other family members have protested outside of the police department as well.
“I just wanna know why. Why did they have to shoot my son?” Mateen told the Sun Herald last week.
Advocacy groups will join protests
Bridges did not know McMillan, his mother or his family before the shooting but has been working with the family since the teen’s death.
Bridges operates a text message group where he provides updates in the case, details on protests and other events related to McMillan’s killing. He said 700 people have subscribed.
Larger peaceful protests are planned on weekends and some will take place outside of the police department, Bridges said.
Other advocacy groups, including the Mississippi Rising Coalition and Black Lives Matter Mississippi, will join the Coast community.
Bridges was still chanting Tuesday as the sun began diminishing below the skyline. The parking lot at Family Dollar filled with cars as shoppers stopped to read the posters and look at the flowers at the spot where the 15-year-old was last seen. A security guard inside of the store would occasionally help shoppers back to their car and stopped to teach a child an exploding handshake trick in the parking lot.
Sitting in a collapsible lawn chair near Pass Road, Bridges looked ahead to the weekend and beyond.
“We’re going to get in good trouble,” he said.
Cooper said last week he supports the right to free speech and to peaceful protest.
Sun Herald reporter Margaret Baker contributed to this report.
This story was originally published October 19, 2022 at 3:56 PM.
