Unfortunately, despite Black folks’ deep roots in the state of Mississippi, it isn’t exactly a place that we have historically considered safe for us. And for good reason. Stories like this only help reinforce that perception.
According to WCBI, an unidentified white teenager has been arrested in Caledonia, Mississippi, for misdemeanor simple assault and minor in possession of a weapon after authorities viewed a viral video of the boy holding a Black teenager at gunpoint while calling him the n-word and other insults. The arrest was made just hours after the video was posted. The white teenager appears to accuse the Black teen of “talking to” his girlfriend and threatens to kill him if it happens again.
District Attorney Scott Colom says that these first charges are not necessarily the only charges that the white teen will be facing when it’s all said and done…
“When it comes to the initial charging decision, local law enforcement looks at the evidence and decides what charges they think are appropriate,” Colom said. “Just because it starts as a misdemeanor doesn’t mean that’s where it has to stay. A grand jury will review the evidence and decide whether there’s enough for more serious charges, including whether there was bodily injury.”
We look forward to those advanced charges. It doesn’t matter how old this teenager is, the punishment for what was done in that video has to be prison. One might think that because of the nature of the video that the white teen could be charged with a hate crime. However, Colom says it might not be that simple.
“If there’s evidence he did it because of race, that’s one thing,” he said. “If the evidence shows it stemmed from another motive, that complicates it.”
The white teen’s mother told WCBI that she immediately turned the boy in once she was notified of the video and also gave authorities the pistol that was used as evidence. She said, “I’m sorry for everything that’s happened,” and stated that she and her family have been receiving threats since the incident.
