A TikTok video about the alleged lynching of a Black truck driver has taken over social media. Police claim there’s no reason to assume foul play. However, the victim’s family believes there’s a coverup afoot.
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Last week, authorities from the Vance County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina responded to the accusations of covering up the alleged lynching of 21-year-old Javion Magee. The truck driver and Chicago native was found dead in a rural area on Sept. 11, police said. Authorities say he was found a short way from his truck, leaning against a tree with a rope around his neck.
However, a woman who said Magee was her younger cousin made a TikTok video alleging Magee was found “hanging from a tree” in Henderson, NC. She also stated the police told her he went to Walmart to purchase the rope and hung himself. On top of that, she alleged the police wouldn’t allow Magee’s mother to identify his body using a variety of excuses.
However, authorities refuted those claims, leaving everyone invested in this story with even more confusion.
“I understand there’s over 1,000 hits on TikTok (accusing) the sheriff’s office of not being transparent, not providing information to the family, and that is not true. There is not a lynching,’’ said Vance County Sheriff Curtis R. Brame via ABC 11 News. “The young man was not dangling from a tree. He was not swinging from a tree. The rope was wrapped around his neck. It was not a noose. There was not a knot in the rope. So therefore, it was not a lynching here in Vance County.
He also alleged Magee bought the rope from Walmart. There are currently no signs of foul play, though it is still too early to call Magee’s death a suicide, the sheriff told local reporters. Preliminary autopsy results have been shared with the family, per ABC’s report. The report showed signs of hemorrhaging around Magee’s neck but no other signs of trauma. The official cause of death is still pending.
Sheriff Brame also said the FBI and State Bureau of Investigation joined the probe into Magee’s death. As of now, Magee’s family demands transparency and for the holes in the case to be filled with answers.
The family hired legal representation to further support their claims that Magee didn’t hang himself
Harry Daniels, the family’s attorney, said in a statement that “As of today, the authorities haven’t shown us anything proving that this young man with no history of mental illness took his own life.”
He also asked how could police expect the family to take their word when they won’t even let this family view the body?
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