A Justice 4 Damien Cameron press conference was held at Jackson’s Margaret Walter Alexander Library by Community X, Cameron’s family and other activists who they say have grown tired of the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department not being held accountable for police brutality.
To help shed more light on the case, Community X, a company that seeks justice to help end police brutality, partnered with Cameron’s family and activists Flo White and Walt Kelly to spearhead the press conference in hopes of getting new information to help the case.
Damien’s brother Cornelius Cameron, grandmother Betty Cameron and cousin Laneatria Barnes, were also in attendance.
On July 26, 2021, in the Rankin County community of Braxton, deputies were dispatched in response to a report of vandalism. Following an apparent disagreement, Damien Cameron, a 29-year-old Black man with mental difficulties, had been “busting holes” in the wall of a neighbor’s house using a pipe, according to reports. He had gone to the house to ask the neighbor if he could perform some yard work for money.
Following a pursuit in which Damien allegedly tried to run and resist arrest, his mother, Monica Lee, said a deputy knelt on Damien’s back for “15 to 20 minutes” while waiting for backup.
During that time, she said Damien complained that he could not breathe.
Deputies allegedly locked Damien in a patrol car as he continued complaining of being unable to breathe, Lee said.
When the deputies returned to the car after collecting evidence, they found Cameron unresponsive and attempted to perform CPR. He was later pronounced dead at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The state medical examiner said his cause of death was “inconclusive,” and a Rankin County grand jury declined to indict the officers involved.
Rankin County deputies Hunter Elward and Luke Stickman were never charged or arrested.
The Rankin County Sheriff’s Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Lee said she’s demanding the Ranking County Sheriff’s Department releases the original dashcam footage, public records and additional information.
“I didn’t know that my last words to my son would be son, I love you, I do before he suffered a tragic death,” Lee said. “We are demanding they release this … critical documentation for the case. My heart is broken. I am asking for the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department to be investigated. My son’s death may not have meant anything to them, but he was everything to me.”
Lee said her son was a well-mannered man who respected his elders and those in positions of authority and couldn’t understand why Rankin County deputies would be so aggressive with her son.
“It is going on two years since my son’s death, and nothing has been done,” she said. “No officers were indicted for the death of my son. I feel like my son’s case is being swept under the rug. I want those officers and Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey to be held accountable. After hearing him repeatedly tell those officers he couldn’t breathe, I deserve justice for my son.”
“There isn’t enough time to make a mother, grandmother, or brother stop fighting for justice for their relative,” Founder and CEO of Community X, Chloe Cheyenne said. “We are here to share demands as it relates to Damien’s case. Those include presenting body cam footage, which the mother or the family have yet to see from the perspective of the deputy’s vehicle that arrived at her home without a warrant, public records and any additional information.”
Cheyenne said the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department was interviewed and asked questions, but the family wasn’t interviewed.
“As a result, officials have said not enough evidence was presented, but that goes without speaking and addressing the family that witnessed the killing of Damien,” she said.
Rankin County, which has about 120 sheriff’s deputies serving its roughly 160,000 people, is predominantly white and just east of the state capital, Jackson, home to one of the highest percentages of Black residents of any major U.S. city.
Mississippi doesn’t require police officers to wear body cameras. Rankin County sheriffs are not required to wear body cams.
Cornelius Cameron, Damien’s brother, said it’s important for anybody in the community and surrounding areas who can relate to the incident to come together to bring justice for Damien.
“This could have been one of your family members,” Cornelius said. “Holding helpful information in will not help. With much support and prayers, I feel we can get this solved.
Laneatria Barnes, Damien’s cousin, said the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department has yet to be held accountable.
“I believe that the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department and other agencies are above the law due to not receiving any severe consequences,” Barnes said. “I’ve gotten questions asking us why are we still protesting knowing that justice will not be given in my cousin’s case, … but justice needs to be served.”
The press conference comes on the heels of a protest of the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department earlier in June. More than 100 people attended a Town Hall Meeting in Brandon to hear complaints of alleged misconduct toward Black citizens by deputies with the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department.
Called by the Rankin County branch of the NAACP, the meeting featured remarks by Trent Walker, an attorney representing several families in an announced intent to file a $400 million federal civil rights lawsuit against Rankin County officials
The lawsuit was filed on June 12, two days later.