Via Clarion Ledger:
Police have made a second arrest in the possibly racially-motivated Saturday morning beating of a man in West Point.
West Point Police Chief Tim Brinkley said in a release Thursday that Marquavious McMillian, 20, of Aberdeen, is charged with aggravated assault an incident that left 32-year-old Ralph Weems of West Point in the hospital.
Courtez McMillian, 22, was arrested earlier this week on the same charges. Both men are held on $250,000 bond. Brinkley’s release said police will not say if the two are related.
Weems, a former Marine and Iraq war veteran, was beaten severely in the parking lot of a West Point Huddle House. His friend David Knighten said they had gone to a Waffle House where they were told there were people inside who were angry about the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown of Ferguson, Missouri, and the restaurant wasn’t “safe for whites.”
Weem’s stepfather, Barry Reynolds, told TheBlaze:
doctors have said there’s a “possibility” he may be forced to live out his days in a vegetative state. That’s why, he said, it’s frustrating to read news reports indicating that his stepson is in “fair condition,” because the surgeon maintains his situation is still “critical.”
Reynolds also alleged that the media would be much more interested in getting to the truth of the story if the races were switched.
CNN is reporting that the FBI is looking at the case.
#CNN confirms that the FBI are assisting West Point, MS police with the alleged racially motivated assault on Ralph Weems and Dave Knighten.
— sgallman (@sgallman) August 28, 2014
There is a GofundMe organized for Weems by his brother in law here. At that page, they noted 2 days ago that he was still in a medically induced coma. They’ve raised $4300, they’re trying to get to $10,000.