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The Justice Department doesn't launch civil rights investigations lightly. When they announced their probe into the Lexington, Mississippi Police Department for "continuous and systematic practices" violating citizens' constitutional rights, the findings were damning enough to draw national attention. What happened next reveals just how deep the department's resistance to accountability runs.
The DOJ Report That Shocked Mississippi
Federal investigators concluded there was "significant justification" to investigate the small Delta town's police force after an extensive review revealed a pattern of constitutional violations. The allegations weren't just about excessive force, they painted a picture of systemic racism embedded in daily policing practices.
Local reports described officers using tasers "as cattle prods to move along subjects" and shocking one man "in the teens of times simply because they wanted to because he was being unkind to them." These weren't isolated incidents according to the Justice Department's findings, they were part of a deliberate pattern targeting the community's civil rights.
Civil Rights History Comes Full Circle
The investigation drew the attention of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, the same organization that fought for Black voting rights in the 1960s under civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer. Current president Cardell Wright said they had repeatedly tried to address community concerns directly with the police department, but "nothing was done."
Wright and other community leaders decided it was time for a different approach. They arranged interviews with residents who had experienced what they described as "racial violence and profiling and abuses by the Lexington Police Department."
When Journalism Meets Resistance
After conducting interviews at the local library, one journalist decided to make a simple request that would expose just how far the department would go to avoid scrutiny. Walking across the street to the police headquarters, he asked for public records related to the incidents described by community members.
The request was straightforward: incident reports and body camera footage from the encounters that had drawn federal attention. These are public records that any citizen has the right to access under Mississippi law.
The Chief's Response Changes Everything
What happened when the journalist made that records request reveals the true scope of the department's accountability problem. The police chief's reaction was captured on camera, and it wasn't what you'd expect from a department supposedly committed to transparency and reform.
The encounter that followed would escalate in ways that perfectly illustrated why the Justice Department felt compelled to investigate this small Mississippi town in the first place.
Watch the full confrontation to see how far this police chief went to keep these records hidden from public view.
