Sophie Bates, Author at The Rapid City Post

FILE - The seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is displayed at its headquarters in Washington, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

2 Mississippi sheriffs and 12 officers charged in drug trafficking bribery scheme

October 30, 2025

Federal authorities have announced indictments against 20 people, including 14 current or former Mississippi Delta law enforcement officers, that allege officers took bribes to provide safe passage to people they believed were drug traffickers. The yearslong investigation swept across multiple law enforcement agencies in the state’s Northwestern Delta region. Two Mississippi sheriffs, Washington County Sheriff Milton Gaston and Humphreys County Sheriff Bruce Williams, were among those arrested. The FBI and other federal authorities announcement the indictments at a news conference Thursday afternoon. A federal defender’s office representing 16 of those charged, including the two sheriffs, said it does not comment on pending matters.

FILE - This Aug. 3, 2017, photo provided by the Mississippi Department of Corrections shows Mississippi death row inmate Charles Ray Crawford. (Mississippi Department of Corrections via AP, file)

Mississippi is set to execute a man convicted of raping and killing a college student

October 14, 2025

A Mississippi man convicted of kidnapping, raping and killing a 20-year-old community college student is set to be executed Wednesday evening at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman. Charles Crawford has also been convicted of raping a 17-year-old girl and attacking her friend with a hammer. In both attacks, he claimed he blacked out and did not recall what happened. Crawford’s execution date comes after the 59-year-old spent more than 30 years on death row. It would mark the state’s second execution this year. Mississippi previously executed Gerald Jordan, the state’s longest-serving death-row inmate, in June. The number of executions has increased nationwide in 2025.

FILE - Arkela Lewis, bottom right, mother of Jaylen Lewis, who was shot to death during an encounter with officers of the Mississippi Capitol Police department, testifies before members of the Jackson delegation of the Mississippi Legislature at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, March 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

Woman sues Mississippi police over son’s killing

October 2, 2025

The mother of a 25-year-old Black man who was fatally shot by police in Mississippi is suing. The defendants in the complaint brought by Arkela Lewis include the officers involved, Capitol Police and the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. Jaylen Lewis was shot by Capitol Police during a traffic stop on Sept. 25, 2022. Then-officers Stephen Frederick and Michael Rhinewalt were indicted for manslaughter in March. Arkela Lewis is asking a court to force the Department of Public Safety and Capitol Police to adopt a policy that would “prevent future instances of the type of misconduct” that led to her son’s death. She is also seeking compensation for emotional damages. The Department of Public Safety declined to comment on the lawsuit.

FILE - Attorney Cliff Johnson, director of the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center, speaks during a hearing Wednesday, May 10, 2023, in Hinds County Chancery Court in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

Mississippi civil rights attorney seeks congressional seat held by GOP’s Trent Kelly

October 2, 2025

A Democratic civil rights attorney who has advocated for better treatment of prisoners and testified against Mississippi’s diversity, equity and inclusion ban says he is running for Congress. Cliff Johnson, the director of the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law, said Thursday that he is seeking the northern Mississippi seat held by Republican Rep. Trent Kelly, who has indicated that he is seeking reelection. In his announcement video, Johnson criticized cuts to health care and policies that he said favor the wealthy and corporations, not working-class families. He also condemned politicians across the political spectrum, casting himself as a Democrat who isn’t afraid to push back against the party establishment.

FILE - A student walks across the University of Southern Mississippi School of Business in Hattiesburg, Miss., Nov. 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

Former student sues University of Southern Mississippi and Omega Psi Phi over alleged hazing

September 23, 2025

A former Omega Psi Phi pledge who alleges he was so severely beaten during the Nu Eta chapter’s “Hell Night” that he had to relearn how to walk is now suing the fraternity, the University of Southern Mississippi and multiple other people and organizations. According to the federal lawsuit, Rafeal Joseph and other pledges were struck repeatedly with a wooden paddle made from a two-by-four plank on April 16, 2023. Afterward, Joseph went to the hospital where he underwent a blood transfusion and emergency surgery while being treated for bruised ribs, a hematoma, posterior compartment syndrome and rhabdomyolysis, a severe muscle injury.

Friends and family of a deceased Delta State University student gather outside to pray after a law enforcement briefing, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Cleveland, Miss. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates)

Mississippi police await autopsy results for Black student found hanged at Delta State

September 17, 2025

Mississippi police are urging patience as they wait for autopsy results for a Black student found hanging from a tree at Delta State University. The case has stirred emotions in a state with a history of racial violence. Campus Police Chief Michael Peeler on Wednesday called it an “isolated incident” and said there are no active threats. Peeler said the state medical examiner was conducting an autopsy, with preliminary findings expected soon. Family members are demanding more information from university officials, and civil rights attorney Ben Crump plans to lead an independent investigation. U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson has also called for the FBI to investigate.

The gun used in the murder of Emmett Till is on display at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025 in Jackson, Miss.. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates)

Gun used in Emmett Till’s lynching is displayed in a museum 70 years after his murder

August 28, 2025

The gun used in the lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till is now on display for the public to see, 70 years after the killing. The Mississippi Department of Archives and History unveiled the .45-caliber pistol and its holster during a news conference Thursday, which is the 70th anniversary of Till’s murder. The gun belonged to John William “J.W.” Milam who, alongside Roy Bryant, abducted Till from his great-uncle’s home on Aug. 28, 1955. The white men tortured and killed Till after the teenager was falsely accused of whistling at a white woman in a rural Mississippi grocery store.

The American flag waves outside the Mississippi Supreme Court in Jackson, Miss., April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates)

Mississippi Supreme Court map violates Voting Rights Act, judge rules

August 20, 2025

A federal judge has ordered Mississippi to redraw its Supreme Court electoral map, after finding the map dilutes the power of Black voters. U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock ruled the map, which was enacted in 1987, violates the Voting Rights Act and cannot be used in future elections. The lawsuit, which was filed on April 25, 2022, argued the map diminished the Black vote in the Central District. Aycock wrote that she will impose a deadline for the Mississippi Legislature to create a new map.

Louie the spider monkey climbs on John Richard, a volunteer at the Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary in Perkinston, Mississippi on Friday, July 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates)

A Mississippi monkey sanctuary helps veterans with PTSD find peace

August 3, 2025

An Army veteran finds peace through a unique bond with a spider monkey named Louie. John Richard, who has struggled with PTSD for over 20 years, says his connection with Louie has been more healing than any treatment. Their friendship began last fall at the Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary in Mississippi. The sanctuary’s founder, April Stewart, also a veteran, shares a similar story. She says working with animals has helped her cope with PTSD. The sanctuary, which houses various rescued primates, aims to provide a natural habitat and healing space for both animals and veterans.

FILE - Medgar Evers, Mississippi field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), poses for a photo, Aug. 9, 1955, in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo, File)

Daughter of assassinated civil rights leader sees painful echoes of political violence in America

July 1, 2025

Civil and voting rights activists gathered in Jackson, Mississippi, to honor what would have been the 100th birthday of civil rights leader Medgar Evers. Evers was assassinated by a white supremacist in 1963. The 2025 Democracy in Action Convening, a four-day conference, celebrated Evers last week. Former Georgia state Rep. Stacey Abrams headlined the four-day conference. Abrams, also a voting rights activist, railed against recent actions by President Donald Trump’s administration and denounced recent acts of political violence.

Mississippi set to execute state’s longest-serving death row inmate

June 24, 2025

Vietnam veteran Richard Gerald Jordan is set to be executed in Mississippi nearly 50 years after being sentenced to death. Jordan is scheduled to be executed Wednesday for murdering a woman in a kidnapping and ransom scheme in 1976. He is the state’s longest-serving death row inmate and is one of several inmates suing the state over its three-drug execution protocol, which they claim is inhumane. Jordan will be the third person Mississippi has executed in the last 10 years. The most recent execution was in December 2022.

‘Sinners’ puts ‘truth on screen’ for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians

June 5, 2025

The blockbuster horror film “Sinners” features the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians in a short, but impactful scene. For some Choctaw, it is the first time they’ve heard their language and seen their culture accurately portrayed on screen. The filmmakers set out with the goal of authenticity in mind, hiring Choctaw consultants and actors to ensure the movie did the tribe justice. “Sinners” producers didn’t stop with Choctaw consultants; they enlisted a small army of experts who advised on the confluence of cultures mingling in the 1930s Mississippi Delta, where the film is set.

Ryan Coogler hosts ‘Sinners’ screening in Mississippi town where film is set

May 29, 2025

Director Ryan Coogler and other cast and crew members of the hit film “Sinners” visited Clarksdale, Mississippi, where the film is set, for a special screening. The film is set in 1930s Clarksdale, Mississippi, but current day Clarksdale doesn’t have a movie theater, making it difficult for people to see the film about their hometown. Community organizers decided to change that, starting a petition to invite the cast and crew to Clarksdale and collaborate on hosting a public screening.

Brian Lowery stands before what remains of his home, which was ripped apart by a tornado, in Tylertown, Miss., on Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates)

While Trump overhauls FEMA, Mississippi tornado survivors await assistance

May 20, 2025

Mississippi’s request for federal disaster assistance is pending more than two months after 18 tornadoes ripped through the state. The delays offer a glimpse into what could be in store for communities around the country as the summer storm season arrives and the Federal Emergency Management Agency is mired in turmoil. And hurricane season is just around the corner. The emergency management director in one of the state’s hardest-hit counties says debris-removal operations have ground to a halt, and people who lost their homes aren’t getting the help they need.

Sophie Bates.