‘Release the footage’: Mississippi protest over police killing of one-year-old

About 100 people gathered on Friday morning outside of the Walmart in rural Senatobia, Mississippi, to protest about the killing of a one-year-old boy by police earlier this month.Walmart itself was closed, its doors barricaded. During a protest at the Walmart earlier in the week, officers deployed teargas on those gathered to force the crowds to disperse.On 14 June, a Senatobia police officer shot into the passenger side of a vehicle in which Kohen Kartier Wiley, a one-year-old boy, sat on his mother’s lap. The officer’s bullet killed Kohen and injured the woman who was driving the vehicle.“ I watched my baby take his first breath, and I watched my baby take his last breath,” Vellesiya Wiley, Kohen’s mother, said during a press conference on Monday.The Mississippi-department-of-public-safety" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="153482" data-entity-type="organization">Mississippi Department of Public Safety (DPS) has said that officers were responding to a call alleging the theft of diapers, but no shoplifting charges have been filed. Wiley said that the driver of the vehicle paid for the diapers at the store’s self-checkout.A 14 June statement from the DPS said that “officers encountered two subjects and a juvenile child fleeing from the store into a vehicle. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one.”Wiley and some witnesses have disputed the police account, and taken umbrage with officials referring to Kohen, an infant, as a “juvenile”. The family and protesters have since called for full transparency, including for videos of the shooting to be released. The DPS has said that body-camera and security-camera footage would not be released while the Mississippi-bureau-of-investigation" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="147489" data-entity-type="organization">Mississippi Bureau of Investigation investigates the shooting.A public records request identified Sgt Hunter Foster of Senatobia-police-department" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="147492" data-entity-type="organization">Senatobia Police Department as one of the officers present at the shooting. Friday’s protest was one of several in support of Kohen’s family and to demand answers.Led by three vehicles and with chants including “Justice for him! Kohen Wiley,” “If we don’t get it, shut it down” and “Say his name: Kohen Wiley!”, protesters walked down the street from the Walmart.Shortly after they began their march, a sheriff intercepted the crowd on US Highway 51, telling some leaders that they were not permitted to stop traffic. Protesters continued, though with enough speed that they were slowing, but not stopping, traffic.That initial interaction with police was a harbinger for what was to come.Initially, marchers intended to go to the Senatobia police station, where they planned to hold a press conference. However, after their first interaction with the sheriff, other law enforcement vehicles loomed – ostensibly to prevent them from continuing. Marchers changed their route repeatedly, weaving down unexpected streets to reach the police station.Approaching the station from one direction, marchers faced a barricade that prevented them from continuing. Instead, they walked down main street, stopping outside of the town’s municipal court office. Workers at local businesses pressed up against the doors, looking out on the protesters.They approached the police station from a different direction as construction workers were placing barricades barring them from reaching the building.“It’s horrible for them to do the community like this … we got businesses locking their doors like we’re trying to harm them,” Tyesha Cox, a family friend, said. “They just need to listen to the community and let us get justice. If they feel the police did right, then why they haven’t released any footage?”The protesters took the march through town, leaving Senatobia’s main street area, weaving near the interstate and back to the Walmart. Protesters persevered, despite temperatures nearing 90F and minimal shade. As they passed fast-food restaurants, employees exited to look on and, in some cases, cheered.Following the march, family and community members will attend a viewing of Kohen’s body. Later on Friday, organizers are holding a town hall featuring Fred Hampton Jr, of the Black Panther Party Cubs, Marquell Bridges, a Mississippi organizer who helped lead Friday’s protest, Baba Akili, with Black Lives Matter Grassroots Rapid Response, and others. Kohen’s funeral will be held on Saturday afternoon.