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Feb 12 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Horrific: At 37-weeks pregnant, Vivian Hathorn called 911 when her car's accelerator stuck at 90 mph.

A white Brookhaven officer arrived, drew a gun, pulled her out, pushed her to the ground on her stomach & handcuffed her.

Hathorn went into early labor.mississippifreepress.org/20757/brookhav…
From Lawanda Dickens: "African American Police Chief Kenny Collins says that his town, Brookhaven, Miss., does not have a race problem. ... Chief Collins supported Officer Jackson, who faced no disciplinary action and still remains on the police force."mississippifreepress.org/20757/brookhav…
This #MFPVoices piece comes in the wake of reporting on D'Monterrio Gibson, the Black FedEx driver who was making deliveries in Brookhaven when he alleges two white men chased him and one began shooting at his delivery vehicle.mississippifreepress.org/20519/black-fe…
Today, @KayodeCrown reported that FedEx has reinstated D'Monterrio Gibson's pay retroactively. The company had initially told Gibson to continue delivering on the same route after the shooting incident and put him on unpaid leave when he declined.
mississippifreepress.org/20765/fedex-re…
You can read about Brookhaven's history of race violence—including lynchings—in this story by @DonnerKay.
mississippifreepress.org/15380/buried-t…
In 1955, Black political candidate Lamar Smith died after someone shot him on the lawn of the Lincoln County Courthouse.

Despite dozens of witnesses present, no one was ever charged. Newspapers reporting his death implied he'd committed ballot fraud.mississippifreepress.org/15380/buried-t…

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More from @ashtonpittman

Ashton Pittman Profile picture
Feb 11
NEW: After a national outcry, FedEx has reinstated pay for a Black FedEx driver who alleges that two white men chased and shot at him while he was making deliveries.

FedEx had put D'Monterrio Gibson on unpaid leave after he refused to return to the route.mississippifreepress.org/20765/fedex-re…
Gibson's attorney said yesterday that FedEx had "voluntarily offered to pay for his counseling... but he also has to live,” @KayodeCrown reports. “...He’s gone without a paycheck for over a week now, and they need to do the right thing by him.”
mississippifreepress.org/20765/fedex-re…
Today, Gibson's attorney says FedEx "has finally checked on D’Monterrio Gibson and has reinstated his pay retroactive to January 31st."

"He will get paid for last week today! Thanks for calling them out for their insensitivity across the country!"
mississippifreepress.org/20765/fedex-re…
Read 10 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
Feb 9
NEW: Lilly Ledbetter and the Mississippi Black Women's Roundtable are warning that two equal pay bills advancing in the Mississippi Legislature risk actually widening wage disparities for women if they become law. 1/ #MSLeg
mississippifreepress.org/20598/equal-pa…
Mississippi Black Women's Roundtable State Lead Cassandra Welchlin says the House's Equal Pay Act would codify into law a systemic form of wage discrimination by allowing employers to pay women less than men based on their salary history from past jobs. 2/mississippifreepress.org/20598/equal-pa…
Welchlin: “The other thing in her bill is that it is based on the ‘continuity of employment history.’That means it would be OK to pay a woman less than a man for the same job because she took time off work to care for her baby or a sick family member." 3/
mississippifreepress.org/20598/equal-pa…
Read 15 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
Feb 5
NEW: D'Monterrio Gibson, a Black FedEx driver, says he was delivering packages in Brookhaven, Mississippi, when a white man in a pickup truck tried to block him in and another allegedly began firing bullets into his delivery truck.
mississippifreepress.org/20519/black-fe…
Gibson: "As I’m leaving the driveway, he starts driving in the grass trying to cut me off. My instincts kick in, I swerve around him, and I start hitting the grass trying to get out of the neighborhood because I don’t know what his intentions are."
mississippifreepress.org/20519/black-fe…
Gibson: “There’s another guy standing in the middle of the street pointing a gun at my windows... . I hide behind the steering wheel, and I swerve around him as well. As I swerve around him, he starts firing shots into my vehicle.”
mississippifreepress.org/20519/black-fe…
Read 28 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
Feb 3
THREAD: Thousands of Mississippians will soon be able to access medical marijuana after Gov. Reeves reluctantly signed a limited bill into law despite.

But many Mississippians—including those with any mental illness other than PTSD—will be left out. 1/
mississippifreepress.org/20395/gov-reev…
Under the medical marijuana law voters approved in 2020, doctors would've had discretion to treat patients with medical marijuana for an illness if they believed it'd help.

But the Mississippi Supreme Court struck the voter-approved law down in 2021. 2/mississippifreepress.org/12703/democrac…
The more restrictive bill Mississippi lawmakers drafted that Gov. Reeves signed only allows medical marijuana treatment for 28 qualifying illnesses, though @MSDH can add others.

No personality disorders or mental illnesses other than PTSD qualify. 3/mississippifreepress.org/20395/gov-reev…
Read 10 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
Feb 3
Fantastic story on how a conservative white U of Mississippi law student who hoped to have a future in Republican politics is taking a Critical Race Theory class & calls it "the most impactful & enlightening course I have taken."

From ⁦@mintamolly⁩: mississippitoday.org/2022/02/02/mis…
"Murphree grew up seeing it; critical race theory just gave her a way to talk about it. 

At Northwest Rankin High, 'I could just look around & see people in my class, & I could see the racial divide & how people literally said the n-word,' Murphree said."
mississippitoday.org/2022/02/02/mis…
Again, this is by @mintamolly at @MSTODAYnews (no connection to the Mississippi Free Press). But it's a really great article and I wanted to share it.
Read 5 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
Feb 1
NEW: Students at historically Black colleges and universities in Mississippi spent the first day of Black History Month sheltering in place after four state HBCUs reported bomb threats.

Congressman @BennieGThompson calls it "incredibly disturbing."
mississippifreepress.org/20304/bomb-thr…
Alcorn State University, Mississippi Valley State University and Tougaloo College have all locked down their campuses following the bomb threats and switched to virtual only class instruction today.

Only the Jackson State University campus remains open.
mississippifreepress.org/20304/bomb-thr…
“The recent threats to HBCUs across the country are a shameless attempt to dampen our sense of safety and freedom by attacking locations traditionally considered a haven for all pursuing an education in a nurturing environment," said JSU's president.
mississippifreepress.org/20304/bomb-thr…
Read 13 tweets

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