US: Congressman calls on FBI to investigate the killing of gay Mississippi mayoral candidate
A Mississippi congressman is asking the FBI to investigate the killing of gay mayoral candidate Marco McMillian.
Democratic US Representative Bennie Thompson represents a district that includes Clarksdale, where Marco McMillian was running for mayor.
Congressman Thompson said that he has confidence in the sheriff investigating the death but that he wants the FBI to get involved because that’s what McMillian’s family wants.
The congressman called the violence “unconscionable.”
Police charged Lawrence Reed, 22, from Shelby, Mississippi, in connection with murder soon after the body was discovered.
Coahoma County sheriff’s spokesman Will Rooker said the investigation continues and authorities are looking at all possibilities, including whether hate crime laws would apply.
Mississippi’s hate crimes law covers acts motivated by bias against a victim’s race but not sexual orientation. However, a federal hate crimes law covers bias against sexual orientation.
