2016/01/12 – The Mississippi State Conference NAACP and the Clark County NAACP are extremely
disappointed that a Clark County Grand Jury did not indict Officer Kevin Herrington in the
choking death of Jonathan Sanders. Clark County District Attorney Bilbo Mitchell convened a
grand jury last week after receiving results from a review of the case by the Mississippi Bureau
of Investigation (MBI). The Grand Jury concluded its review on Thursday and the decision was
released this morning.

Derrick Johnson, MS State Conference President says that the fight for justice in this case is not
over. “We will continue to stand by Jonathan Sanders’s family and the Stonewall community as
they continue to seek justice in this case,” says Johnson. The MS State Conference NAACP will
meet with the family and attorneys for the family to review case evidence in order to determine
the next steps.

Clark County NAACP President Rev. Lawrence Kirksey believes that an outside investigation
by the Department of Justice will be the only way to resolve this tragedy. “There are too many
unanswered questions in Jonathan Sanders’s case and Bilbo Mitchell has not answered any of
these questions for the family,” said Rev. Kirksey. One of those questions revolves around the
reason that Mr. Sanders was stopped. “The D.A. has not told the family or the community the
reason that he was stopped in the first place,” Kirksey continued. Officer Herrington was not on
duty when the incident happened.

“In this era of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, it’s a shame that local authorities continue to
demonstrate their belief that black lives don’t really matter. We have to hold these officials
accountable to administering equal justice that respects the life of every individual, regardless of
race,” Johnson continued.

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Source: NAACP MS Staff