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When the Department of Justice opens a civil rights investigation into your police department, most officers might reconsider their approach. Not Scott Walters. The Lexington, Mississippi officer who made national headlines for arresting citizens who filmed him has doubled down on his camera phobia, literally hiding behind doors when journalists arrive.
Despite promises of retraining and departmental reform, new footage reveals Walters continues his pattern of constitutional violations. The latest incident shows him arresting another citizen for the crime of recording in a public building, proving that federal scrutiny has done little to change behavior in this Mississippi town of 1,600 people.
The Town That Justice Forgot
Lexington's problems run deeper than one rogue officer. The DOJ investigation revealed a police department that operates more like a shakedown operation than a law enforcement agency. With $1.7 million in outstanding fines for a town of 1,600 residents, the math tells a disturbing story. That breaks down to over $1,000 per person in a community where the median income hovers near the poverty line.
The federal investigation documented a pattern of targeting Black citizens, illegal detentions, and arrests for constitutionally protected activities like swearing in public. One case involved officers breaking down a man's door to arrest him for using profanity, a clear First Amendment violation that would be laughable if it weren't so tragic.
Yet somehow, Officer Walters survived it all. While the DOJ compiled evidence and federal lawsuits piled up, Walters kept his badge and his gun.
The Attorney Who Vanished
Behind every corrupt police department stands a legal enabler. Enter Katherine Barrett Riley, the city attorney who promised accountability while delivering nothing but excuses. When federal lawsuits arrived at her office, Riley's response was memorable: she literally ran out the back door.
Security footage captured Riley fleeing her own law firm when process servers arrived with federal court documents. Her staff, clearly coached for the moment, claimed she had mysteriously vanished despite witnesses seeing her enter the building moments before.
Riley had previously assured concerned citizens that Walters would face consequences. Instead, he received what the city called "retraining" and "de-escalation classes." The results speak for themselves.
The Game of Hide and Seek
When journalists returned to Lexington to document changes since the federal investigation, they discovered Walters had developed a new law enforcement technique: hiding behind doors. Security footage shows the uniformed officer literally crouching behind a door in the police station while backup units race to the scene.
Multiple officers arrived "code three" with lights and sirens, not to respond to a crime, but to create a distraction while Walters attempted his escape. The absurd scene would be comedy gold if it didn't involve a man with arrest powers and a firearm.
Even more troubling, recent footage from another incident shows Walters hasn't learned anything from the federal investigation or his viral internet fame.
Nothing Has Changed
Just last week, Walters appeared in new footage showing him arresting yet another citizen for filming in a public building. The encounter follows his familiar script: immediate hostility toward cameras, unlawful detention, and eventual arrest when the citizen refuses to surrender constitutional rights.
The victim's crime? Holding a recording device while Black in Lexington, Mississippi. Walters can be heard making the same constitutional violations that triggered the federal investigation, proving that neither DOJ scrutiny nor public embarrassment has modified his behavior.
This latest incident raises serious questions about what exactly Lexington officials mean by "retraining" and whether federal oversight has any real teeth.
The Price of Accountability
Multiple federal lawsuits now target Walters, the Lexington Police Department, and the Barrett Law Firm for their roles in systematic civil rights violations. The financial cost to taxpayers continues mounting while officials refuse to address the root problem: Scott Walters should not be carrying a badge.
Yet he remains on duty, hiding behind doors and arresting citizens whose only crime involves operating recording devices. Each day Walters remains employed increases the city's liability and puts more citizens at risk.
The question isn't whether Lexington will face more lawsuits, but how many more constitutional violations officials will tolerate before taking action.
Watch the full investigation to see Scott Walters' complete meltdown and the absurd lengths he goes to avoid accountability cameras.
