On an autumn evening in 1959, in the town of Philadelphia, Mississippi, a 27-year-old Black man named Luther Jackson, a veteran of the Korean War, was fatally shot. On the night of October 25th, Jackson was in a parked car with a woman named Hattie Thompson when they were approached by police officer Lawrence Rainey. Rainey ordered both individuals out of the vehicle.
After Luther Jackson exited the car, Officer Rainey pushed him out of Thompson's line of sight.
Shortly after, Thompson reported hearing two gunshots. She discovered Jackson lying in a ditch, having been shot. Thompson recounted that she then heard Rainey contacting someone, stating, 'Come on down here. I think I have killed a n-----.' When Police Chief Bill Richardson and other officers arrived at the scene, Thompson asserted that Jackson had been killed for no reason. In response, the officers reportedly beat her and issued a fine for disorderly conduct.
Officer Rainey later claimed that he acted in self-defense, alleging that Jackson had resisted arrest and had been choking him. A coroner's inquest subsequently ruled the death a justifiable homicide. Following the incident, a request was made to the U.S. Attorney General to investigate the death. However, the Department of Justice concluded that there was insufficient evidence to indicate a violation of any federal statute.
In 2008, the Department of Justice reopened the case to review the circumstances surrounding Luther Jackson's death. During this new investigation, some of Jackson's family members voiced a belief that his cousin, Earthy Culberson, might have been responsible for the shooting, and that Officer Rainey had taken the blame due to a business relationship between the two. However, the Department of Justice found no evidence to support these claims. The case was officially closed in 2010, citing the deaths of both Lawrence Rainey and Earthy Culberson.
