Death of Jonathan Sanders
{{Short description|2015 death of a man in Mississippi police custody}}
{{redirect|Jonathan Sanders|the Scottish fashion designer|Jonathan Saunders}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox event|date=July 8, 2015|type=Death}}
On July 8, 2015, Jonathan Sanders, a 39-year-old Black man, died while being restrained by Stonewall, Mississippi police officer Kevin Herrington.{{cite web|first=John|last=Swaine|date=July 15, 2015|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/15/jonathan-sanders-mississppi-chokehold|title=Unarmed Mississippi man died after 20-minute police chokehold, witnesses say|work=The Guardian|access-date=October 13, 2020}} In January 2016, a grand jury declined to indict the officer,{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/us/mississippi-officer-cleared-in-death-of-man-in-buggy.html |title=Mississippi: Officer Cleared in Death of Man in Buggy |agency=Associated Press |date=January 11, 2016 |work=The New York Times |access-date=October 13, 2020}} and in March 2016, a grand jury determined Sanders choked after swallowing a bag of cocaine, and police had not used excessive force while restraining him.
Incident and inquiry
At the time of the incident, witnesses reported that the officer had used a racial slur during his encounter with Sanders, and that Sanders' breathing had been obstructed by officer Kevin Herrington for as much as 30 minutes. Sanders died at the scene. At his funeral on July 18, 2015, 1,000 people attended.{{cite news|first=Matthew|last=Teague|date=July 18, 2015|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/18/funeral-police-chokehold-victim-jonathan-sanders-mississippi|title=Tears and anger at funeral of 'police chokehold victim' Jonathan Sanders|journal=The Guardian|access-date=October 13, 2020}} The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was reported to have joined the investigation into Sanders' death.{{cite news |first=Jeff |last=Amy |date=July 14, 2015 |url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/95285538735e440d8d7fccdbe034610f/fbi-aiding-inquiry-mans-death-after-police-encounter
|title=FBI aiding inquiry of man's death after police encounter |agency=Associated Press |access-date=July 31, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304122232/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/95285538735e440d8d7fccdbe034610f/fbi-aiding-inquiry-mans-death-after-police-encounter |archive-date=March 4, 2016 }}
Outcome of grand jury
Following a medical autopsy in July 2015, which determined the cause of death as homicide by "manual asphyxiation", Clarke County District Attorney Bilbo Mitchell scheduled a grand jury.{{cite news |last1=Apel |first1=Therese |title=Autopsy finds man was strangled in police encounter |url=https://clarionledger.com/story/news/2015/07/16/lawyer-autopsy-finds-mississippi-man-strangled-police-encounter/30245669/ |access-date=February 13, 2021 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |date=July 7, 2015}} In January 2016, a grand jury determined that Sanders died of "mechanical asphyxia" after swallowing a bag of cocaine, and that the police officer was in the right to pursue Sanders based on the suspicion he was involved in drug activity. It furthermore determined there was no evidence showing a traumatic injury inflicted by the police officer. There was speculation over whether the police officer had used a racial slur during the incident. The jury found no evidence to support that.{{cite news |last1=Wagster Pettus |first1=Emily |last2=Burdeau |first2=Cain |title=Grand jury: No indictment of Mississippi police officer |url=https://apnews.com/article/8c312cc010604fb79fb256b652cdc0ea |access-date=February 13, 2021 |work=AP News |date=January 12, 2016}} The jury concluded that Sanders "did not act in conformity with his normal character due to the influence of cocaine which was found in his system at the time of his death".{{cite news |last1=Apel |first1=Therese |title=No indictment of Miss. officer |url=https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2016/01/11/mississippi-officer-not-indictmented/78627156/ |access-date=February 13, 2021 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |date=January 11, 2016}}{{cite web | last = Mitchell | first = Bilbo | title = Supplemental Report of August 2015 Grand Jury in Clarke County, Mississippi | publisher = Clarke County Mississippi District Attorney | url = https://jacksonfreepress.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/news/documents/2016/01/11/FAX_20160111_1452537377_51.pdf | access-date = February 13, 2021}} The NAACP doubted the grand jury findings and released a statement asking for an outside investigation by the Department of Justice.{{cite press release |author= |title=NAACP Calls for Federal Investigation Into Jonathan Sanders Death |url=http://naacpms.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Release-J-Sanders.pdf |location=Mississippi |publisher=NAACP News |date=January 2016 |access-date=2020-10-13}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/jonathansanders/ Coverage from the Jackson Free Press]
- [http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/2015/9/in-mississippi-mother-of-police-chokehold-victim-demands-justice.html Video report by Al-Jazeera America]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20150728114748/http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/07/28/another-reason-to-question-whether-black-lives-matter-in-mississippi/ Reuters Analysis + Opinion]
- [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/18/funeral-police-chokehold-victim-jonathan-sanders-mississippi The Guardian]
{{Black Lives Matter}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Jonathan}}
Category:Deaths by person in Mississippi
Category:Deaths in police custody in the United States
Category:Cocaine-related deaths in Mississippi
Category:July 2015 in the United States