Mayor ‘alarmed’ and ‘disturbed’ by video of handcuffed Black man’s arrest in Mississippi

A Mississippi mayor is speaking out after an online video showing the rough arrest of a handcuffed Black man by a state trooper surfaced late last week.

McComb Mayor Quordiniah Lockley said he watched the video “several times” and has asked a state representative to investigate the Aug. 5 incident involving Eugene Lewis and an unnamed Mississippi Highway Patrol officer in McComb.

“I know that many of you like myself, have viewed the video,” Lockley wrote in a statement posted on the city’s Facebook page. “I am alarmed as well as disturbed over it. I ask that you allow the investigation to be completed but at the same time let your voice be heard.”

Officials with Mississippi Highway Patrol said they’re aware of the incident and are investigating.

“This incident is being reviewed internally by the Department of Public Safety,” an agency spokesperson told McClatchy News in a statement. “The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is also conducting an inquiry. No further comment will be made at this time.”

The unidentified trooper is seen grabbing a handcuffed Lewis by his neck and wrestling him to the ground on the side of the road, according to a video posted by Lewis’ brother, Packer Lewis. At one point, the officer rolls Eugene Lewis further into the grass before pinning him with his knee.

“That’s how George Floyd got killed!” someone shouts off camera. “That’s how George Floyd died.”

It’s not clear why Lewis was being apprehended or what occurred before the video recording. Off screen, bystanders can be heard accusing the officer of “jumping on” and beating Lewis in the backseat of a car.

The officer repeatedly orders the witnesses to get back and points a weapon at them while still kneeling on Lewis, the video shows. A second patrol car arrives minutes later, and one of the bystanders is placed under arrest.

Video of the incident has circulated online, prompting calls for police accountability and evoking memories of the death of Floyd, who died in police custody on May 25, 2020 in Minnesota, sparking protests across the nation.

Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder in Floyd’s death and sentenced to 22.5 years in prison.

McComb is about 80 miles southwest of Jackson.

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