Civil rights attorney Ben Crump is calling for an investigation in the Hinds County Mississippi Jail after 215 bodies were found in a pauper’s cemetery.
According to the Chicago Crusader, most of the gravesites were marked with merely a metal rod and number.
In response to the discovery, Crump has partnered with Reverend Hosea Hines, senior Pastor of the Christ Tabernacle Church and the national leader of A New Day Coalition for Equity and Black America, to advocate for an investigation into the causes of the 215 deaths.
“People all across America are scratching their heads in disbelief about what’s happening in Jackson, Mississippi, with this pauper’s graveyard,” Crump said last month. “It went from talking about the water” that was non-existent or contaminated, “to now we’re talking about the graveyard. What is going on in Jackson, Mississippi?”
Hines echoed Crump’s concerns, expressing sorrow over the prolonged uncertainty for relatives who are unaware of the burial locations of their loved ones.
“It really saddens my heart to know that their relatives went that long, some over a year, not knowing if their loved ones were dead or alive and then coming to the realization that they had been buried in a pauper’s grave behind a jailhouse,” Hines said. “If they had been properly notified, they would have been able to pay their proper respect.”
At this time, it’s unclear if the 215 deaths were caused by “racism, prejudice, or bigotry.”
