Robityson

In 2021, Ben Crump fueled nationwide outrage when he told the world 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant was unarmed in her yard when police arbitrarily shot her. His statements were shared thousands of times and generated enormous public outrage. Mr. Crump did not publicly retract those claims after body camera footage showed Bryant was holding a large knife and moving toward another young woman when the officer fired. Mr. Crump represented the family of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and became one of the leading voices behind the "Hands up, don't shoot" narrative, asserting Brown was surrendering when he was shot. Those claims helped fuel nationwide protests and unrest. Mr. Crump did not publicly retract those claims after the Department of Justice concluded that the physical evidence and witness testimony did not support that narrative. In Mississippi, Mr. Crump represented the family of Trey Reed, a young college student found hanging from a tree. He held press conferences demanding "the truth" while rumors spread online claiming Reed had suffered numerous broken bones and that it was a "lynching." Mr. Crump did not publicly correct those claims after the official medical examination found no broken bones and ruled the death a suicide. Although he commissioned a private autopsy and promised its findings would be shared, that report was never publicly released. Following the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Mr. Crump publicly described Blake as unarmed and peaceful. Mr. Crump did not publicly correct those statements after investigators determined Blake was carrying a knife and had continued resisting officers after two taser deployments. Blake himself later acknowledged during a national television interview that he had been carrying a knife and only dropped it after being shot. When 29-year-old Jalen Randle was fatally shot by a Houston police officer, Mr. Crump held a major press conference asserting body camera footage would show Randle had been shot in the back of the neck while running away. Mr. Crump did not publicly correct those claims after body camera footage and the medical examination showed the opposite. During the high-profile prosecution of Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw, Mr. Crump publicly claimed forensic testing had found a teenage accuser's DNA inside Holtzclaw's uniform trousers and Holtzclaw's DNA inside the teenager's undergarments. Mr. Crump did not publicly correct those statements after sworn crime lab testimony showed that no such forensic evidence existed. Now, Mr. Crump has stepped into the investigation surrounding the death of Ocean Springs teenager Nolan Wells. Within days, he was publicly questioning the integrity of the investigation and telling national audiences that authorities were attempting to "sweep the investigation under the rug." He also amplified a rumor that Nolan had made it back to shore on the night of July 4 and attended a pool party, sharing a photograph while acknowledging it was, at that point, only a rumor. That rumor spread across social media with incredible speed. Before long, countless people were repeating as fact that Nolan had been killed in Ocean Springs and that his body had later been transported back to Horn Island. Since then, eyewitnesses have stated that the photograph Mr. Crump shared was actually taken in June, before the Fourth of July weekend. Whether every statement Mr. Crump has made about the Nolan Wells case ultimately proves true or false is not the point. The point is that extraordinary allegations deserve extraordinary evidence, particularly when they have the power to divide communities, undermine public confidence, and shape national opinion before investigators have completed their work. Questioning those allegations is not racism because Mr. Crump happens to be black. Holding powerful people accountable for their public statements is not racism. Author ~ E. Brian Rose