MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Southern Poverty Law Center is calling for a full investigation into two recent deaths in Mississippi after Demartravion “Trey” Reed and Cory Zukatis were both found hanging in separate incidents, one at Delta State University and the other in Vicksburg.
Authorities have ruled one death a suicide while the other remains undetermined. But the SPLC said the public outcry surrounding the tragedies makes a transparent investigation essential.
“We are deeply saddened by the recent tragedies where individuals were found hanging in Mississippi. One took the life of a young Black man and the other of a man experiencing homelessness,” said Bryan Fair, interim president and CEO of the SPLC. He said that local concerns “surrounding the loss of these two should not go unaddressed.”
Fair emphasized the broader significance of the incidents, citing Mississippi’s racial history. “The imagery of these two deaths immediately evokes the collective consciousness of those who are deeply aware of Mississippi’s troubled past,” he said. “These events remind us how inequity continues to endanger lives.”
The SPLC press release stressed that accountability requires both a thorough investigation and open communication with the public. “By committing to a thorough investigation and providing transparency around these tragedies, local leaders and law enforcement can bring a deeper sense of peace and comfort during a time of tragedy,” Fair said.
The SPLC said its Mississippi office will continue to monitor the actions of local leaders and law enforcement as the investigations move forward.
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DOJ bombshell charges against SPLC
“The SPLC is a nonprofit entity that purports to fight white supremacy and racial hatred by reporting on extremist groups and conducting research to inform law enforcement groups with the goal of dismantling these groups,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a news conference announcing the charges. “The SPLC was not dismantling these groups. It was instead manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/southern-poverty-law-center-facing-141457260.html
In response to the administration’s criminal investigation of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Diane Yentel, President & CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, issued the following statement:
“The administration’s latest targeting of the Southern Poverty Law Center marks another step in a progression of dangerous abuses of executive power and another direct attack on the nonprofit sector. This is a deliberate attempt to silence dissent by distorting efforts to combat violent extremism.
When a president and their administration vilify civil rights and other nonprofit organizations, they erode some of the very institutions that sustain our democracy and civil society. This and other baseless criminal and civil investigations are blatant attempts to silence organizations and individuals with whom the administration disagrees.
The Southern Poverty Law Center is a vital organization that works to protect communities and the country from violent extremism. Efforts to intimidate or silence the organization are a blatant affront to free speech and a troubling misuse of federal authority.
The National Council of Nonprofits strongly condemns this weaponization of government and stands firmly with nonprofit organizations facing politically motivated attacks. We will not waver in our commitment to protect and strengthen the nonprofit sector and the communities it serves.”
https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/pressreleases/statement-national-council-nonprofits-president-ceo-diane-yentel-administrations
“This and other baseless criminal and civil investigations are blatant attempts to silence organizations and individuals with whom the administration disagrees.”
Kind of sounds like what the Obama and Biden administrations tried to pull on Trump with the phony Steele Dossier, FISA and other such witch hunts.
“The National Council of Nonprofits strongly condemns this weaponization of government and stands firmly with nonprofit organizations facing politically motivated attacks. We will not waver in our commitment to protect and strengthen the nonprofit sector and the communities it serves.”
Did this guy speak out when the Obama administration used the IRS and Lois Lerner to go after conservative nonprofit organizations?
“Fair emphasized the broader significance of the incidents, citing Mississippi’s racial history. “The imagery of these two deaths immediately evokes . . . ”
Whoa, this sounds like SPLC did the evoking to promote the stoking. The deaths are tragic, but hanging one’s self is not the same as being hung by a mob. This non-profit, like the ACLU, lost it’s way decades ago. People need to stop blindly worshiping nonprofits as angelic in motive. They are often used for nefarious purposes.