Kamala Harris will accept the Democratic nomination 60 years to the day after Fannie Lou Hamer—a Black woman and sharecropper from rural Mississippi—rattled the DNC with her "Is This America?" speech about being brutalized for trying to register to vote.
mississippifreepress.org/kamala-harris-… Fannie Lou Hamer, who helped organize Freedom Summer to register and educate Black voters, was one of the leaders of the Mississippi Democratic Freedom Party who traveled to the 1964 DNC in New Jersey to challenge the state's all-white delegation.
mississippifreepress.org/kamala-harris-…

NEW: After discovering that some officials in Mississippi and nationwide were keeping unidentified bodies for "personal collections" and refusing to return them, Pascagoula Lt. Darren Versiga began pushing for a law to regulate how remains are handled.
mississippifreepress.org/40991/cold-cas… Lt. Versiga told @Shaunicy_ that he uncovered the problems when he began looking into decades worth of unsolved cold cases in Pascagoula.

He said a new bill in the Mississippi Senate could prevent the mishandling of bodies in the future.
mississippifreepress.org/40991/cold-cas…

NEW: The Mississippi Senate stripped out the House Medicaid expansion bill and replaced it with one that could cost the State millions more while covering less people.

"This is not Obamacare" but "a very responsible and conservative bill," a senator said.
mississippifreepress.org/40893/senate-m… Sen. Kevin Blackwell estimates that 80,000 Mississippians would qualify for Medicaid coverage under the Senate plan, but said he expects as few as 40,000 may actually enroll—significantly lower than the House’s estimation of up to 200,000 for its version.
mississippifreepress.org/40893/senate-m…

You deplorable misogynist.

You're using photos of her from 10 years ago—when she had an eating disorder.

She was this thin because of hateful assholes like you making her feel bad about her body. Like she could never be thin enough.

You are NOT entitled to women's bodies.

https://twitter.com/ykkswb/status/1758869914872398099

To quote Taylor herself reflecting on her eating disorder:

“If you’re thin enough, then you don’t have that ass that everybody wants. But if you have enough weight on you to have an ass, your stomach isn’t flat enough. It’s all just f—ing impossible.”
variety.com/2020/music/new…

Our top story at the Mississippi Free Press today: "Trump Encourages Russia to Attack American Allies: ‘Do Whatever the Hell They Want’"

We may be a local Mississippi outlet, but this is important. It should be leading every newspaper in the country.
mississippifreepress.org/39734/trump-en…
"'No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage [Russia] to do whatever the hell they want,” Trump said, recalling a conversation with an American ally's president.
mississippifreepress.org/39734/trump-en…

NEW: Brett Favre was interrogated by state attorneys for nine hours Monday during a secret deposition about the Mississippi welfare scandal and the millions in TANF funds that went to him, a volleyball stadium and a drug company he was heavily invested in.
mississippifreepress.org/38290/brett-fa… Favre's deposition was originally scheduled for October, but the State rescheduled it for after the statewide elections.

Hattiesburg Patriot's Tom Garmon found out about the deposition's secret location and staked it out. Clip courtesy @HPatriot
mississippifreepress.org/38290/brett-fa…

NEW: Some Mississippi voters were left in line for hours as election officials printed new ballots after at least 9 Hinds County polling places ran out.

Local officials attribute the shortages in Mississippi's largest county to unexpectedly high turnout.
mississippifreepress.org/37392/nine-hin… Voters told the Mississippi Free Press earlier today that the McLeod Elementary polling place ran out of ballots as early as 8:30 a.m.; voting began at 7 a.m. and lasts until 7 p.m.

Hinds County is the home of Jackson, Mississippi's 83%-Black capital.
mississippifreepress.org/37392/nine-hin…

At least 9 precincts in Hinds County—Mississippi's most populous county and the home of the 83%-Black capital city of Jackson—have run out of ballots in the statewide election.

The polls are set to close at 7 p.m., but court orders could keep them open.

https://twitter.com/radamswapt/status/1722010892022305056

Voters said the McLeod Elementary polling place ran out of ballots as early as 8:30 a.m.

Voting began at 7 a.m.

“We were not prepared for this amazing turnout,” Hinds County Democratic Executive Committee member Jason McCarty said.
mississippifreepress.org/37392/nine-hin…

"You know, we don't live in a democracy" but a "biblical" republic.

That's what Mike Johnson said in a 2016 interview as he explained his views on the U.S. government.

That's what the new Republican House speaker, who tried to overturn the will of the voters in 2020, believes. Mike Johnson in 2016: "What’s happened, Alex, over the last 60 or 70 years, is that our generation has been convinced that there is a separation of church and state. Most people think that that’s part of the Constitution, but it’s not.”

(It is: See The Establishment Clause).

"The Biden-Presley Agenda" is a Black woman holding a room of mostly white kids hostage with masks & increasing crime, says new Mississippi GOP mailer supporting Tate Reeves.

Scaring white people by associating candidates like Brandon Presley with Black leaders is an old tactic. See also: Brandon Presley is "just another woke liberal with an agenda" like that former Black president and the white man who served as VP.

Presley doesn't even support trans rights. Or bringing back mask mandates.

But these ads are designed to scare white people.

BREAKING: The Mississippi Legislature's effort to mandate four state-appointed circuit court judges in majority-Black Jackson is unconstitutional, the Mississippi Supreme Court just ruled.

It's a big victory for opponents of #HB1020.
mississippifreepress.org/36228/law-mand… Despite striking the four unelected circuit judges, the Mississippi Supreme Court did allow H.B. 1020's creation of a single inferior court in Jackson's Capitol Complex Improvement District.

The white chief justice will appoint a judge to it.
mississippifreepress.org/36228/law-mand…

NEW: An Indianola Police officer pointed a gun at Kelvin Franklin, repeatedly tased and choked him all while the 33-year-old U.S. Army staff sergeant was handcuffed, he alleges in a lawsuit.

The officer was suspended in June after shooting an 11-year-old.
mississippifreepress.org/35898/indianol… Five months after the night Kelvin Franklin alleges Officer Greg Capers tased and choked him while handcuffed, the officer shot 11-year-old Aderrien Murry at his home after the boy called to report a domestic disturbance involving his mom's boyfriend.
mississippifreepress.org/33351/indianol…

BREAKING: New text messages reveal that Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves' brother, Todd Reeves, helped coordinate Brett Favre's efforts to repay $1.1 million he received in welfare funds to record ads and give speeches.

The governor released the texts today.
mississippifreepress.org/35830/gov-reev… “The texts ... show Todd Reeves connecting Brett Favre and Auditor Shad White to help coordinate the repayment of funds. There is nothing that implies Todd was involved beyond helping the state to recover misspent dollars,” Gov. Reeves' office says.
mississippifreepress.org/35830/gov-reev…

NEW: Mississippi election officials have made 161 voting precinct changes ahead of tomorrow's primaries, our investigation finds.

They moved 92 to precincts, closed 41 and opened 28 new ones. But not all the changes are reflected in the state's system.
mississippifreepress.org/35295/mississi… Since the 2022 midterms, the State has a net 13 fewer precincts than before.

One single small county accounted for 85% of the reduction: Lawrence County slashed 46% of its total precincts, reducing its total from 24 to 13 since last year.

We asked why.
https://t.co/Lzz7yt0Cxbmississippifreepress.org/35295/mississi…

BREAKING: The 5th Circuit just STRUCK DOWN Mississippi's lifetime voting ban for people convicted of certain crimes—a Jim Crow-era law designed to target Black voters.

It disenfranchises more people than made the difference in the 2019 governor's race.
mississippifreepress.org/35243/mississi… “By severing former offenders from the body politic forever, Section 241 ensures that they will never be fully rehabilitated ... and serves no protective function to society,” the ruling says.

Read the ruling here: https://t.co/JB9M3tfqkmmississippifreepress.org/wp-content/upl…

Since 2020, three employees have died while working at the Mar-Jac Poultry plant in Hattiesburg, Miss.

On July 14, Guatemalan immigrant worker Duvan Tomas Perez became the third in as many years.

He was only 16.
mississippifreepress.org/34806/boy-16-d… Federal law prohibits anyone under 18 from working in poultry plants because they are considered too hazardous for multiple reasons, including their use of power-driven equipment.

OSHA and the Labor Department are investigating Perez's death.
mississippifreepress.org/34806/boy-16-d…

NEW: Mississippi state offices remained open today on the Juneteenth federal holiday—even though officials closed state offices two months ago to celebrate the state's Confederate Memorial Day holiday.
mississippifreepress.org/34014/mississi… "Not closing all state offices on Juneteenth" after closing them for Confederate Memorial Day "sends a message that here in Mississippi, we don’t respect Juneteenth" or Black Mississippians, says Democratic secretary of state candidate Shuwaski Young.
mississippifreepress.org/34014/mississi…

NEW: Mississippi is seeing power outages like "we have not seen since Hurricane Katrina," Entergy Mississippi's CEO said after Friday's storms left 138,000 without power even as temperatures reached the 90s.
mississippifreepress.org/33983/power-ou… Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes continued to pound the state this morning, and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said at least 49,000 Mississippi residents remained without power remained without power.
mississippifreepress.org/33983/power-ou…

The Mississippi Free Press' newest reporter, Heather Harrison, has done stellar work in her first few weeks on the job.

But I think she deserves A LOT more followers. Do you think y'all could get her boosted up to 1,000 before the weekend? ☺️

Follow her @JournalistHRH! And be sure you're following @MSFreePress too!

NEW: Brandon Presley will be the lone Democrat on the Aug. 8 primary ballot for Mississippi governor and the de facto nominee after the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned a lower court's order to add longshot candidate Bob Hickingbottom to the ballot.
mississippifreepress.org/33831/presley-… After the Mississippi Democratic Party declined to certify Bob Hickingbottom's challenge, he challenged it in court 75 days later.

The Mississippi Supreme Court found, however, that Hickingbottom's lawsuit should have been filed within 15 days.
mississippifreepress.org/33831/presley-…

NEW: Greg Capers, the Indianola, Miss., police officer who shot 11-year-old Aderrien Murry, has been suspended without pay.

The Indianola Board of Aldermen, which initially placed him on administrative paid leave, voted 4-1 to suspend him yesterday.
mississippifreepress.org/33827/indianol… Greg Capers shot Aderrien Murry after the boy called 911 to help his mom.

"A brave and courageous young man tried to come to the rescue of his mother. Little did he know that, just a few moments later, he'd be fighting for his life,” said @Esquiremoore.
mississippifreepress.org/33351/indianol…