Mississippi Releases Bodycam Footage of Police Shooting That Killed 1-Year-Old Kohen Wiley

The Mississippi Department of Public Safety released bodycam footage from the police officers involved in the deadly shooting of one-year-old Kohen Wiley in June. The Mississippi Attorney General had previously ruled the use of force as "justified." At the time of publication, Daily Mail (Lean Right bias) was the only coverage from the right AllSides found addressing the new footage, though other right outlets did cover the "justified" ruling.

The Details: Kohen Wiley was shot and killed in a car with his mother and aunt, who were accused of shoplifting from Walmart and were fleeing in their vehicle. Newly released footage shows both store security footage and film from the officers' body cams. The video shows five officers running towards the car with guns drawn as they yelled for the driver to stop. The officers were on the right side of the vehicle as it reversed into another car in the parking lot before pulling forward and turning left. Four gunshots can be heard as the car passed by the officer.

For Context: Officers we called to the Walmart because of calls about shoplifting, though Kohen Wiley's mother nor his aunt, the other two women in the car with him, were never charged. On October 19, Breitbart (Right) reported that the Mississippi Attorney General's office announced that it found the use of force justified, and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said that Wiley's aunt drove towards and struck one of the officers. The officer who fired the fatal shots resigned from his position, though he was cleared of criminal wrongdoing. His lawyer said, "The driver of the vehicle was attempting to kill those 5 officers, and Hunter Foster had no choice but to discharge his weapon."

How the Media Covered It: The footage was covered more heavily by the left and center, with little-to-no coverage from the right found outside the Daily Mail. The Intercept (Left) wrote that the cop "was not in danger" when he fired the shots and claimed that the officer "positioned himself in front of the vehicle" and fired shots after the vehicle passed him and "posed no threat." BBC (Center) included Wiley's family's response that the shooting was not justified and their lawyer's statement that the allegation of shoplifting "does not warrant the death" of a child. It also noted that the Walmart security footage appears to show that one officer was near the front of the moving vehicle when the other officer opened fire.

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