The family of an African-American man who was killed when he was beaten and run over with a truck has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a group of teens alleged to have been present at the time of the attack.
The lawsuit — filed Tuesday in a Mississippi court — alleges that seven white teenagers “set out on a mission” to find and harass African-Americans.
The lawsuit, filed by the victim’s sister, mother and two brothers, seeks a jury trial and damages. It names not only the two teens facing criminal charges in the incident but others who, the suit alleges, acted as lookouts and prevented Anderson from escaping.
The death of James Craig Anderson, 48, occurred early June 26 in Jackson, Mississippi — allegedly at the hands of white teens who, after a night of partying and drinking, decided to “go f*ck with some ni**ers,” police said, quoting one of the suspects in the case.
“James Anderson lost his life for no other reason than the color of his skin,” said Morris Dees, chief trial counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center, in a statement. The law center filed the suit on Anderson’s family’s behalf along with Mississippi attorney Winston J. Thompson III. “Those responsible must be held accountable for their callous and deadly actions. We are filing this lawsuit today to ensure his family gets a measure of justice.”
Anderson’s death drew national attention after CNN first reported it and aired exclusive surveillance video of the killing in a Jackson suburb. District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith, who is prosecuting the case, has called it “vicious” and a “premeditated hate crime.”
During the incident one of the teenagers could be overheard yelling “white power” and immediately after Anderson was run over, Dedmon allegedly told the other defendants he had “ran that ni**er over.”
U.S. Department of Justice investigators are now in Jackson, investigating the death as a possible federal hate crime and assisting local prosecutors.
The killing has also prompted several large marches and prayer vigils in Jackson, a city of about 537,000 people. Thompson said there has been an “outpouring of support” for the Anderson family from the area.
“This isn’t just something that happens in Mississippi,” Dees told reporters Tuesday at a news conference announcing the filing of the suit. “This is something that’s happening all across the nation. We feel like this case is particularly egregious.”
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