It was New Year’s Eve 2021, and brothers Robert and Darius Harris were celebrating by popping fireworks in Lexington, Mississippi. However, the night of excitement turned sour when the brothers were allegedly harassed by officers from the local police department.
That night, the cops arrived at Robert’s house, telling the duo that they would arrest them for violating the fireworks ordinance. It prompted the unarmed brothers to resist the threat and ask them to leave before the situation escalated. After Robert held up his hand to de-escalate the conflict, Darius was randomly stunned with a Taser in the chest and abdomen, making him fall to the ground.
While Darius was stunned, the officer put a flashlight on his face and ordered him to put his hands behind his back. He was ultimately arrested and taken into custody.
When Robert got to the police station, he was instructed to “leave,” but was also detained and taken to the chief’s office. He was allegedly told “if they kept bumping heads there would be a killing.”
These details stem from allegations included in a 2022 lawsuit filed by several Black residents against the city of Lexington — which has a population of less than 1,500 — and the police department, including its former and interim chiefs of police, Sam Dobbins and Charles Henderson, who both are white. The mayor and other city leaders are also white.
The complaint comes after a slew of complaints about local officials to the agency. The U.S. Department of Justice has now launched an investigation into the city.
Dobbins was present the night of the Harris brothers’ arrest, the lawsuit said. However, things took a turn for the duo again after participating in a “Know Your Rights” meeting on April 7, 2022, that involved the Black community vocalizing their concerns about the police force. The brothers were arrested the next day and charged with marijuana possession and “retaliation against an officer,” according to the complaint. One of the brothers claims an officer planted drugs in his car.
Another plaintiff in the lawsuit, Malcolm Stewart, was also targeted and arrested in the days after the meeting.
“Throughout 2021 and 2022, Plaintiffs and other Black Lexington citizens have been falsely arrested, forced to undergo baseless searches and seizures at roadblocks and subjected to unreasonable force by LPD officers when they verbally object to police mistreatment,” court documents stated. “The tactics employed by LPD against these Black citizens are like those recommended for use by the United States Army to quell armed rioters in occupied nations. These tactics are wholly unnecessary on peaceful Americans.”
The lawsuit also alleges:
- Police officers purposefully set up roadblocks in predominantly Black areas, especially near Holmes County Central High School when it held events. The complaint insinuates that the officers executed about 300 roadblocks last year to monitor Black motorists.
- Interim police Chief Henderson started harassing not only Stewart but also his family members, including his children and nephews. In one instance, after his daughter declined Henderson’s advances, he began to approach her and pin phony crimes on her “such as taking too long to get out of her car.”
- Henderson is accused of breaking into a 60-year-old woman’s home without a warrant. While only wearing a nightgown during the winter, she was maced, arrested without her Miranda warning being read to her, and hosed down before Henderson left the scene.
- From June 27, 2021, to May 17, 2022, the department arrested 100 Black individuals, and more than 40 stemmed from minor traffic violations. Only seven white people were arrested during this time period.
- A woman decided to only to leave her home during certain hours after officers physically assaulted her during a roadblock. They are accused of handcuffing and throwing her to the ground after they found out she had “old fines.”
More than 20 officers turned in their badges due to not aligning with the behaviors and “city’s culture of corruption.” For instance, one officer resigned after he saw Dobbins strike a suspect in the head while they were handcuffed.
The department pushed out at least four officers after “refusing to violate individuals’ rights.” - Now, more than a year later, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a probe into the police department and the city, which is about 62 miles away from Jackson and has a predominately Black population, about 77%.
The DOJ made the announcement on Nov. 8 and said it would zero in on “use of force and its stops, searches, and arrests.” They also plan to reach out to the community for insight into their experiences. City officials are cooperating with them.
“We are opening this investigation to determine whether the Lexington Police Department engages in a pattern or practice of discriminatory policing, excessive force or First Amendment violations,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in the press release.
“This investigation should send a clear message to small and mid-size police departments that they are not exempt from the obligation to provide fair, effective and non-discriminatory policing. We will leave no community behind, including underserved regions in the Deep South, in our quest to ensure lawful and constitutional policing in America.”
