WATCH: Advocates for Jaheim McMillan call for officer’s arrest, police chief’s termination

GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) - Monday afternoon, representatives from a number of national civil rights organizations gathered in front of the Gulfport Police Department to speak out about the officer involved shooting that left 15-year-old Jaheim McMillian dead.

The advocates holding Monday’s news conference say they have video from a nearby business that shows the teen with his hands raised in front of the Family Dollar, complying with the commands of officers on the scene. They say the video shows an officers jumping out of his car, running and shooting at the young man.

They say they want to eventually release the video to give the public a clearer picture of what happened. But they’re not ready to release it at this time.

That description of the moments leading to the deadly shooting are in direct contrast with the scenario police have described.

Gulfport Police Chief Adam Cooper told reporters at an October 11th news conference, “One of the officers observed McMillan, who was armed. The officer gave orders to McMillan to stop and drop his weapon. McMillan did not comply. McMillan turned his body and weapon toward the officer. The officer fired at McMillan.”

Advocates say they want the officer arrested, and charged with murder, and they want to see Chief Cooper terminated, based on his handling of this situation.

WLOX New live streamed the almost hour-long news conference Monday afternoon. You can watch it in its entirety below.

From the beginning, family and community leaders have called for the release of any video that showed the fatal shooting outside the Gulfport Family Dollar. Mississippi Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell has promised to do just that, but only after the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation’s analysis is complete.

WLOX News spoke to Tindell shortly after Monday’s news conference, and he held strong in his position to see the investigation through before making any video public. You can watch our full interview with Commissioner Tindell below.

Other speakers at Monday’s news conference also included “families from around the United States that have been impacted by police brutality” and other violence, including the families of Jacob Blake and Breonna Taylor.

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