WLOX reached out to the City of Gulfport for comment. Their only comment was that the Grand Jury had heard the evidence in the case and determined the officer was justified in his actions.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday and states the family is suing the city for protecting the officer who shot Jaheim. It alleges the city did not properly train and supervise the officer who “shot and killed the deceased without probable cause and/or justification for his killing other then Jaheim McMillan being a young Black youth.”
The lawsuit calls for the termination of the officer from the Gulfport Police Department, alleging he is a “serious danger to the Black Community.”
It also accuses the City of Gulfport of covering up the officer’s actions on that day and causing “intentional infliction of emotional distress” upon McMillan’s mother, Katrina Mateen.
The officer is being sued individually, as well. The lawsuit claims the officer “failed to properly exercise wise discretion” before shooting McMillan, used “excessive force in violation of the fourth amendment to intentionally inflict emotional distress upon his mother Katrina Mateen and to deny her the loss of affection of her son Jaheim McMillan for eternity…” and “lied and tried to cover-up his actions on October 6, 2022.”
The lawsuit also alleges the officer “failed to follow the proper protocol in the apprehension of a criminal suspect before firing shots.”
Other defendants, including detectives, investigators and agents, may be added to the lawsuit in the near future.
Black Lives Matter Grassroots, along with the family of Jaheim McMillan, local organizers and others began gathering at 2 p.m. Friday in front of the Family Dollar at the corner of 8th Avenue and Pass Road to hold a rally on the one-year anniversary of McMillan’s death.
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“It’s the one year since Jaheim’s passing and we still have no justice,” said Katrina Mateen, Jaheim’s mother.
“This ain’t going away and we’re not going away. We’re going to get justice for my grandson,” said Jaheim’s grandmother.
“We call for the feds to come in and do an independent investigation today. There’s alot of corruption going on here and it stinks. This mother has been waiting for one year. She’s been patient. She’s been doing everything the people say you need to do to file in the courts of law and to get to action. There has been none. Without boots on the ground, there’s no movement. We need the community to come out and support this family,” said Deanna Joseph.
The supporters marched from Pass Road to Courthouse Pier for a balloon release memorial.
October 6, 2022, Gulfport Police received reports of a car with multiple teenagers inside waving guns at drivers. The car was stopped by an officer at the Pass Road Family Dollar, causing most of its occupants to flee.
One of those inside the car was 15-year-old Jaheim McMillan. As McMillan exited the car, the responding officer engaged McMillan, shooting him.
McMillan was transported to Gulfport Memorial Hospital after the incident, but was taken off life support two days later on October 8 at USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital in Mobile.
All other suspects in the vehicle at the time were taken into custody
Black Lives Matter – California and each of the state’s eight chapters condemn the passage by the state legislature and signing into law by Governor Gavin Newsom of the unconstitutional and undemocratic bill AB 715 and its weak companion legislation, SB 48.
Leimert Park, Los Angeles – Black Lives Matter Grassroots now has fifty-two chapters, including three led by imprisoned folks and one in Stockholm, Sweden. The now-international organization, whose mission is to end state-sanctioned violence, convened this past weekend to celebrate twelve years since the founding of the birth of one of the largest racial justice movements in the history of the world and the very first Black Lives Matter chapter on this same spot, Leimert Park (aka Africa Town), the heart of Black Los Angeles. The organization was sprung into being after the murderer of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was acquitted by a legal system that never served Black people.
“BLM Grassroots, Local Organizers, Justice Families, and Student Activists Warn of Alarming Trend of Black Students at Predominantly White Institutions BeingTargeted by White Supremacists and Cops.”
