Mississippi Police Arrest Civil Rights Leader Filming Traffic Stop

Lexington, Miss., police arrested a civil rights organization president after she filmed a traffic stop officers made on Saturday, reports the Associated Press. Jill Collen Jefferson, president of JULIAN, had filed a federal lawsuit against the department last year for a group of the city’s residents. Jefferson’s arrest came nine days after the Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division went to Lexington to meet with community members about allegations of police brutality.

Jefferson’s lawsuit claims police have subjected Lexington residents to false arrests, excessive force and intimidation. “As an advocate for her clients, Jill Jefferson believes that this pattern and practice has happened to citizens in Lexington,” said her attorney, Michael Carr. Carr said Jefferson complied with a request to produce identification and questioned why the officers had approached her as she filmed on a public street. She was arrested and charged with three misdemeanors: failure to comply, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Carr said the department agreed to release her without posting bond. Jefferson refuses to pay a $35 processing fee because she believes her arrest was unlawful.