Protests Planned For Suspected Lynching

K O K O M O, Miss., July 5 -- Civil rights leader Jesse Jacksonsaid today he would lead a two-day march in Mississippi thisweekend to draw attention to the “mysterious” hanging deathsof black men in the once deeply segregated Southern state.

Jackson, president of the civil rights group Rainbow-PushCoalition, said the planned march was prompted by the death ofRaynard Johnson, a 17-year-old black teenager who was foundhanging from a pecan tree outside his family’s house in Kokomo,on June 15.

Local authorities ruled Johnson’s death a suicide, butJackson said there were suspicions local whites had targeted theteenager for dating white girls in the small town, about 150miles south of the state capital, Jackson.

“I’m suggesting that Raynard Johnson was murdered. Thehostility toward him and his brother was very substantial,”said Jackson, who noted that graffiti bearing the words “Killall niggers” had been scrawled on a bridge near Kokomo wherewhite supremacists held a recent rally.

“In addition to Raynard Johnson, there are six or sevenother rather mysterious deaths called suicides, some by gunshotand some by hanging,” said Jackson in reference to a number ofother deaths in Mississippi.

Other Suspicious DeathsJohnson’s death was investigated by the Marion CountySheriff’s Office in Columbia, Miss. Based on a coroner’sreport, which found no suspicious marks or injuries on theteenager, police concluded it was a suicide.

Police in Marion County were not immediately available forcomment today.

Jackson demanded, however, that Mississippi authoritieslaunch an investigation into the deaths of Johnson and 46others, including more than 20 blacks, who reportedly committedsuicide in Mississippi jails from 1987 to 1993.

Jackson, a former presidential candidate, said the deathswere suspicious.

When asked about the allegations, Mississippi AttorneyGeneral Mike Moore declined to comment.