It is unclear why the officer initially stopped Eugene Lewis and his brothers, but the video shows the unidentified officer roughly handling a handcuffed Eugene.
A viral video from McComb, MS, shows a member of the Mississippi Highway Patrol violently handling a Black man in custody. It is unclear why the officer initially stopped Eugene Lewis and his brothers, but the video shows the unidentified officer roughly handling a handcuffed Eugene.
The video runs a little more than five minutes. Packer and Darius Lewis, Eugene’s brothers, can be heard in the background narrating the officer’s actions and exchanging words from time to time. From the video, the two stay back away from the officer and their brother, but they refuse to budge.
“We looking at you choke the man, but we gonna stay back and record you.”
“We wanna know why you was in a car jumping on him.”
“We don’t give a damn…you was just in the back seat beating him up.”
Despite having handcuffed Eugene, the officer can be seen pulling him down to the ground by his neck and then tossing him into the grass on the side of the road and then jumping on him. All three brothers were arrested, according to local news.
A statement from McComb’s mayor confirmed the incident involved a Mississippi Highway Patrol. Mayor Quordiniah Lockley told WJTV that because the incident involved a highway patrolman, he is letting the state handle the investigation.
Lockley said that although it was outside his jurisdiction, he wanted assurances it would be investigated.
“This is alarming that something like this would happen within the city limits of McComb,” Lockley said.
Both the Internal Affairs and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation are investigating. The predominantly Black community sits approximately 80 miles south of Jackson, MS.
Eugene told WJTV he didn’t know what would have happened had his brother not live-streamed. He said the officer first pulled him over for allegedly doing 35 mph in a 30.
“I can’t never let this go,” Eugene told WJTV. “I ain’t did nothing to him. And I know this same white guy will do to another Black guy like that.”
Rep. Daryl Porter released a statement also confirming the state investigation. Porter represents the 98th district, covering Pike and Walthall Counties.
“Those who have watched the video, including myself, find the contents alarming,” wrote Porter.
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