On November 14, 2017, we learned about Lyndo Jones who became yet another victim to racial bias in policing on November 8th and almost lost his life as a result. Jones, an unarmed citizen, accidentally set off his vehicle alarm only to wind up being assaulted, shot, and unlawfully detained by 10-year veteran of the Mesquite Police Department, Derick L. Wiley. Wiley is currently on administrative leave.

Rather than owning up to their recklessness and bias, the Mesquite police department has given the typical but wholly unacceptable response: assume criminality or suspicion of an African-American citizen, arrest him with excessive use of force (which in this instance also includes 2 non-fatal shots), and press charges against the shooting victim. Though the charges were subsequently dropped, Jones' rights continued to be violated. For a period of time yesterday, he had handcuffs on his ankle in his hospital bed, his attorneys were not permitted to see him, and Mr. Jones was interrogated without the benefit of counsel.

The Mesquite Police Department is writing their own rules and flagrantly ignoring Mr. Jones' constitutional rights.

MOBB United for Social Change, Inc demands immediate accountability for the actions of the officer and the Mesquite Police Department. When we see cases like Mr. Jones, we see all of our sons - black boys and men - who could be and are often treated similarly or worse. We will not be silent about our outrage and intend to watch their investigation closely and call for justice for Mr. Jones.