Jay Lee case: Sparse affidavit offers few new details - Mississippi Today
Jay Lee case: Court proceedings begin - Mississippi Today
Many students know both Lee and Herrington, who were involved in several of the same Black organizations on campus. That night, it seemed like students immediately took sides and started to speculate, said Braylyn Johnson, a recent graduate who lived with Lee during the pandemic.
“When they had (the police) announced on Friday that Jay was dead, they didn’t say anything, they just said they had arrested another student,” Johnson said. “That was a moment for people not to necessarily have their moment of grieving for Jay Lee – they took that as a moment to defend Tim.”
Johnson was at the courthouse on Wednesday for a protest she and other students had organized. An Instagram account called “Justice for Jay Lee!” encouraged people to come wearing bright colors, and Johnson brought hand-drawn signs and a cooler of water bottles. Two hours before the hearing, she was standing next to the lynching memorial by the courthouse, prepping her sign.
She said Lee – who was outspoken about the routine violence that trans and nonbinary people face everyday in Mississippi – would’ve organized a protest, too.
“Jay Lee would have spoken up for anyone,” she said. “‘Justice for Jay Lee?’ He would’ve done that 10 times.”
Around 12:30, three police officers walked Herrington up a sidewalk and into the side door of the courthouse.
Johnson ran up to Herrington.
“That was pretty sucky of you, Tim,” she shouted.
Inside the courthouse, Herrington’s family waited on the first floor in front of the metal detector. Once the courtroom opened, three university police officers parted the crowd to let Lee’s family through. Some of Lee’s family and friends wore white shirts printed with the words “Justice for Jay.”
Lee’s parents sat in the front row, his dad’s hand on his mom’s shoulder.
The judge started the proceeding. He warned everybody to turn their cell phones off because there were “a few more people than we’re used to” in the courtroom.
After the hearing, Herrington’s family left the courtroom first. One of his family members peered through the glass door to the courthouse as Johnson and more than a dozen of Jay’s friends and classmates marched in a circle and chanted “justice for Jay.” Some protesters drove down from Memphis.
Many of Lee’s friends are part of the LGBTQ community in Oxford who have found more acceptance here than in their hometowns. One of those students is Adrian Word, a junior at Ole Miss who is from Tishomingo. He identifies with Lee.
“Jay is a gay, Black male – so I am,” Word said. “The way I look at it, that could’ve been me. That could’ve been friends, that could’ve been anyone like me.”
Johnson said she feels like the LGBTQ community is “tolerated” but that Oxford and the university could do more. In particular, she took issue with the statement that Chancellor Glenn Boyce put out on Friday night to acknowledge Herrington’s arrest.
www.wtva.com
