Mayor Hewes uses social media to back Gulfport police three weeks after teen’s death
Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes defended the city’s police department and Chief Adam Cooper Tuesday, a day before Wednesday’s funeral for 15-year-old Jaheim McMillan, who died after being shot by a Gulfport police officer.
Hewes delivered his message in a video posted on Facebook.
The funeral for McMillan is Wednesday at the Lyman Community Center.
“Our police department encountered a tragic situation in which deadly force was used,” Hewes said in the opening of his two minute and 30 second message. “This resulted in the death of a young man and many lives being uprooted, continuing to watch the chain of events unfold surrounding the death of another youth in our community.”
On Oct. 6, Gulfport police responded to a 911 call that several minors were waving guns at motorists on Pass Road. Police stopped their vehicle along Pass Road. McMillin was shot outside the Family Dollar store.
The other four suspects in the car were arrested.
McMillan’s family has called for the release of the body cam video to show if he was armed as the police claim. The family also hired Benjamin Crump, a civil rights attorney who also represented the families of George Floyd and others killed by police across the country.
“There is a desire by all parties to understand why such a death had to occur,” Hewes said.
An investigation is under way to determine all the facts, he said.
“The reality is the speed of justice does not coincide with the speed of social media,” Hewes said.
The mayor said members of the police department have been threatened on social media and the media has attacked the character of Chief Cooper.
“This is wrong,” he said. “I’m here to make this very clear. I stand with the chief and our police department.”
The facts of this case will be weeded out as the investigation concludes, he said.
“ In the meantime, the unwarranted public abuse of our police force is based upon lies conjecture, supposition, misplaced national narrative must stop,” Hewes said.
This story was originally published October 26, 2022 at 2:05 PM.
