Police chief in Mississippi town where 1-year-old was killed has been fired

2 septembre 2026 à 15:10

Senatobia, where white officer shot and killed Kohen Wiley, terminates chief who reportedly used racist slurs in texts

Late Tuesday, the city of Senatobia, Mississippi fired its police chief, Harold Vanderford, after it was reported that Vanderford regularly used racist slurs against Black people in his text messages. The town, which is about 40% Black, made national news earlier this year after a white officer fatally shot and killed Kohen Wiley, a one-year-old Black baby, while responding to a shoplifting call at Walmart. Officers fired into a vehicle, shooting the driver and killing the toddler, who was being held in his mother’s arms.

Though Vanderford submitted a resignation letter earlier on 1 September, the city’s board of aldermen unanimously voted to reject it and to terminate the officer instead. Vanderford’s firing came just under a week after the city wrote in a statement that, despite the messages, he would “continue to serve the City with the confidence that was placed in him at the time that he was appointed as Chief”.

US news | The Guardian

College football coach famed for Netflix show fired after calling officials ‘idiots’

Par : Richard Luscombe

1 septembre 2026 à 11:51

Buddy Stephens, who was featured on Last Chance U, publicly criticized his school and league hierarchy

A college football coach who rose to prominence in a Netflix documentary series about student athletes trying to make the big time on their final opportunity has been fired after publicly calling officials “idiots” for changing the structure of the league in which his team competed.

Buddy Stephens, the coach in question, starred in the first two seasons of the gritty reality show Last Chance U that chronicled the struggles endured by football players at East Mississippi Community College (EMCC) as they juggled academics, challenging home lives and their full-contact sport in their efforts to reach the NFL.

NYT > U.S. News

Police Chief in Mississippi Regularly Used Racist Slurs, Private Text Messages Reveal

Par : Mukta Joshi and Joseph Cranney

22 août 2026 à 05:03

Text exchanges obtained by reporters show troubling messages sent by the chief of a Mississippi police department facing an uproar over the fatal shooting of a 1-year-old boy in June.

A memorial for Kohen Wiley at the Walmart in Senatobia, Miss., in June.

US news | The Guardian

Nolan Wells’ death made Black parents say the quiet part out loud – Stateside with Kai and Carter

Par : Hosted by Kai Wright · produced by Tiara Chiaramonte · Anabel Bacon and Suzanne Gaber · engineered by Ivan Kuraev · executive producer Rachel Humphreys

17 août 2026 à 16:45

When 18-year-old Nolan Wells went missing, his story immediately touched a nerve in Black families. He was last seen while hanging out with a group of white friends, at a popular beach near Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Wells never came home from the trip, and he was found dead days later. Many questions about how he died remain unanswered publicly. And the mystery surrounding his death has revived an old conversation within Black communities: are we ever truly safe in white-dominated spaces? Who will feel responsible for our children’s safety when we send them out into a world where Black life is not valued? Host Kai Wright talks with historian Stacey Patton and writer Ashley Stoney about why Wells’ story has captured so much attention – and sparked so much anxiety – among Black parents, in particular. What does our collective reaction to Wells’ disappearance and death reveal about the limits of interracial society today?

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