In a huge further accountability move, two Capitol Police officers have been federally indicted. They aren’t just party to the fatal shooting of a young father in Jackson, Mississippi. On August 14th, 2022, a fatal crash involving a police pursuit occurred. Sherita Harris went through a traumatic brain injury after being shot in the head while riding in a car. The officers in question, Rhinewalt and Orville Jeffery Walker, fired their weapons while pursuing McCoy. Those indictments were unsealed on Monday, and both officers were charged with aggravated assault.
The Capitol Police’s involvement in this shooting highlights a larger issue concerning the agency’s operational policies. Since their deployment to address increasing crime rates in Jackson, the Capitol Police have been unable to even produce updated use-of-force policies. These policies have to catch up with their expanded missions. In early 2023, the agency made a quiet but much-needed revision to its use of force policy. Needless to say, this called into question the adequacy of their training and practices.
Rhinewalt and Walker on the night of the shooting were members of a crime suppression unit known as Flex. As part of an ongoing narcotics operation, police officers identified a white Jeep Grand Cherokee. Either the bus driver or the vehicle in question ran a red light. The officers claimed they shot into the vehicle in self-defense. Yet a grand jury found that their assumption that they had to use deadly force was “unreasonable under the circumstances.” The terrible consequence of this encounter resulted in the shooting death of 30-year-old Lewis, a father of two young kids.
To this day, Lewis’s mother has held firm on the belief that her son was unjustly shot by the police. After the accident, she has fought fiercely for justice on her behalf. She’s convinced the police’s use of deadly force was unwarranted. A subsequent death certificate validated that Lewis had indeed been shot in the head, proving her right yet again.
The Capitol Police, which had primarily focused on securing state government buildings until their deployment in 2022, is now facing scrutiny over its operational changes and accountability measures. Nearly all elected officials in Jackson, a Democratic stronghold, opposed the 2020 law that broadened the Capitol Police’s jurisdiction as crime surged. Yet, Republicans in the state legislature forced the controversial legislation through over this local pushback.
Apart from Lewis’s case, another incident involving Capitol Police took place on December 11, 2022. Latasha Smith, 47, was in her apartment when gunfire started outside. Police were chasing a suspected car thief when she was caught in the crossfire and shot in the arm. Incidents like these have rightfully questioned the officers’ training and judgment when supplanting deadly force with lethal force against suspects.
As to Rhinewalt and Walker, Rhinewalt was arrested last Wednesday and released on a $100,000 bond. Ever since his indictment, he has been on unpaid administrative leave from the Capitol Police. Frederick resigned from administration in March 2023. His most famous decision was made under duress after he was stopped and arrested for drunken driving. It is unknown as of this writing whether he is still on staff with the Scott County Sheriff’s Office.
Each of these incidents have nationwide ushered in conversations praising and/or condemning police actions and systemic accountability within militarized state forces. Combined with findings from other ongoing investigations, these analyses will shed new light on these important topics. The community remains committed to getting the truth out and getting justice for the victims of police violence.