Civil Rights Leaders Call for Independent Probe of Black Teen’s Death in Mississippi

Civil rights leaders are backing an independent investigation into the mysterious death of Nolan Xavier Wells, an 18-year-old Black college athlete whose body was found last week on a barrier island in Mississippi. Wells had taken a boat to the island with a group of white friends to celebrate the July Fourth holiday. The friends say Wells chose to stay on the island when they returned home. Authorities say Wells may have accidentally drowned, but his family has questioned the official story in part because Wells’s cellphone was found not with his body, but in the possession of one of his friends who returned home. Wells’s mother spoke at a press conference on Friday. Christine Wonsley: “Nolan was — is the kindest soul. He never met a stranger. He loved everybody. He didn’t care if you were Black, white, purple, green, looked like a marshmallow. Like, he just wanted everyone to be in peace with one another. He just — he loved life, and God gave him this big heart, which always scared us. Me and his dad had conversations with him all the time, not just about the importance of understanding our history as Black people, but also the importance of how you have to move in certain spaces.” The family of Nolan Wells is being represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who also spoke at Friday’s press conference. Benjamin Crump: “It is because the family has distrust of the Mississippi law enforcement officials giving them a fair investigation where their Black son ended up dead after going out on a boat with three young white men. The history of Mississippi is something that they don’t just read about in books, but it’s a lived experience for many Black Americans.” www.democracynow.org