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Jawan Dallas’s family and attorneys will hold a press conference Thursday, July 20, prior to his funeral to declare the filing of their notice to sue the city of Mobile and the police officers involved in his death. It was also announced that Bishop William James Barber will give the eulogy during Dallas’s funeral.
Dallas was a 36-year-old Black man who was killed after being tased to death by police the night of July 2. Dallas was unarmed and there have been conflicting accounts of what occurred that night from the Mobile Police Department (MPD) and several eye-witnesses.
Several civil rights lawyers have joined the legal team representing Dallas’s family since his death. They include Harry Daniels, Roderick van Daniel, John Burris, Ben Crump and Lee Merritt.
Dallas’s family and attorneys have demanded transparency and accountability from MPD, repeatedly calling for the release of body camera or dash cam footage. However, MPD refuses to release the video. They have cited the current investigation surrounding Dallas’s death and their long-standing policy of never releasing body camera footage.
The news conference to announce filing the notice to sue will be held in front of Mobile’s City Hall at 10 a.m. The funeral will be held at Greater Mt. Olive Baptist Church and begin at noon.
There are currently multiple investigations into Dallas’s death by the MPD, the FBI, and the U.S. Department of Justice. Daniels previously said that Mobile should be aware that they are serious in their campaign to obtain justice for Dallas.
“It should be clear that this isn’t a game to us,” Daniels said. “We don’t come together like this for nothing. So let this put the Mobile Police Department on notice. We’re fighting for Jawan Dallas. We’re fighting for justice and we won’t stop until justice is done. How long that takes is up to them.”
