Hundreds of people gathered Sunday night at a baseball park in Stonewall, Miss., to remember a black man who died after a physical encounter with a white police officer and to call for action.
The crowd repeatedly shouted "No justice, no peace!" Lawrence Kirskey, president of the Clark County NAACP, suggested they boycott local businesses because of lack of action in the death of 39-year-old Jonathan Sanders.
Sanders died after a physical confrontation with a part-time Stonewall police officer on July 8. Sanders had been riding in a two-wheeled buggy pulled by a horse.
What happened that night is intensely disputed, and is being investigated by the FBI and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, CBS News reports.
The officer's attorney, Bill Ready Jr., said Sanders had what appeared to be illegal drugs and grabbed the officer's gun during a struggle.
Lawyers for Sanders' family say the officer attacked without provocation after the two saw each other at a convenience store about a mile across town. C.J. Lawrence, who represents three witnesses, said Sanders was doing nothing illegal and didn't resist while Herrington choked him to death.
