Marco McMillian, the gay Mississippi African-American mayoral candidate who was murdered late last month, was beaten, dragged, and set on fire, and his family is calling his murder a hate crime — and calling for it to be investigated as such.
READ: Murdered: Mississippi’s First Gay Mayoral Candidate – Wanted To Be Model For Black Community
“The Coahoma County Sheriff’s Department, however, isn’t exploring that option, said its spokesman Will Rooker,” the Clarion-Ledger reports:
The department is leading the investigation with the help of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. MBI spokesman Warren Strain couldn’t be reached for comment Monday.
McMillian was beaten, dragged, and set afire before his body was found Wednesday near the Mississippi River, according to a statement the family issued late Sunday and which was confirmed Monday by family friend and Marco McMillian’s godfather, Carter Womack.
Womack also said the 33-year-old was found naked, bruised and swollen. The account was based on photographs the family saw, as well as two conversations it had with the coroner.
McMillian was called the first openly-gay Mississippi mayoral candidate by the Victory Fund.
The Clarion-Ledger adds:
“He was very concerned about his safety; people had tried to talk him out of the race,” Womack said. “The family feels this ought to be investigated a hate crime,” Womack said.
So too does Larry Nelson Sr., president and CEO of Victims Group of Violent Crimes in Jackson, who had spoken to McMillian just days before his death: “This was a hate crime. I don’t care if the perpetrator was black, white, or polka dotted.”
McMillian, pictured below with President Obama, had a very promising political career. He will be missed.
All images via MarcoMacMillian.com
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Really? There are those that do not think this was a hate crime? Are you kidding?!
The article just so happens to leave out that the police are currently investigating his boyfriend as the top suspect. The official autopsy hasn't even been released, as far as I know. Reports saying he was beaten and burned are actually unfounded at this point. The coroner was quoted as saying he didn't know where the family heard all of these rumors, but he gave the impression that they weren't true. Unless there's such a thing as gay-on-gay hate crimes, then this likely isn't a hate crime.
Thanks, totts1. That actually makes it sadder for me, if it is true that the boyfriend committed the crime.
Or if the boyfriend is being made a scapegoat for what is an obviously political assasination.
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