U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett demands a Department of Justice investigation into what she calls “modern-day lynchings” of Black Americans.
Crockett took action after Robert Elliott, a Mississippi man, was found dead inside a tarp that appeared to be burned.
Crockett, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, sent a letter to the DOJ calling for an investigation into whether deaths classified as suicides are actually lynchings.
Her letter to the DOJ listed 23 possible modern-day lynching cases. Crockett suggested the lynchings could be the work of rogue police officers.
“America spent generations allowing Black people to be lynched while institutions with the power to intervene stood by and did nothing,” Crockett said in her letter. “We cannot repeat that history.”
She added: “The images we are seeing of Black bodies hanging from trees and other structures across this country should shock the conscience of every American. Given our nation’s horrific history of racial terror and lynching, we cannot simply look the other way when Black Americans are found dead under circumstances that demand answers. Every one of these cases deserves to be taken seriously, investigated thoroughly, and examined in the context of what is happening across the country.”
Crockett’s letter points to recent incidents concerning racist conduct within the Senatobia Police Department in Mississippi. The police department is investigating Nolan Wells’ death.
Crockett said “the DOJ has the authority, the resources, and the responsibility to determine whether these deaths are isolated tragedies or evidence of something far more sinister. I am demanding that they use them.”