Policy Order O-12

WHEREAS: Even by the standards of what we have come to expect from the state of Mississippi, the murder of James Craig Anderson last June, will be remembered as one of the most brutal hate crimes in a state where such crimes used to be commonplace; and

WHEREAS: According to law enforcement officials James Craig-Anderson, an auto plant worker, was severely beaten before being run over with a truck by a group of teens bent on hurting an African American; and

WHEREAS: Mr. Anderson's story evokes memories of James Byrd Jr., who was murdered in Jasper, Texas, in 1998, tied to a truck and dragged along an asphalt pavement. It brings back memories of Marcelo Lucero beaten and stabbed to death by several teens shouting anti-Latino epithets in Long Island, NY; and recalls the suffering of Matthew Shepard who was tortured and murdered in Laramie, WY, in 1998; and

WHEREAS: Law enforcement officials have confirmed that two car loads of teens attacked James Craig Anderson in a motel parking lot, yet only two teens have been charged with his murder, leading many to question why the others were not charged; now therefore be it

RESOLVED: That the City Council go on record extending its condolences to the family of Mr. James Craig Anderson, while calling on Hinds County prosecutors, Robert Shuler Smith, to punish all those immediately or remotely associated with Mr. Anderson's tragic death to the fullest extent of the law; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the City Clerk be and hereby is requested to forward a suitably engrossed copy of this resolution to the family of James Craig Anderson and to Hinds County Prosecutor, Robert Shuler Smith, on behalf of the City Council.