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by Jesse Muhammad/Final Call
On Saturday, October 4, I received a serious phone call from Krystal
Muhammad of the New Black Panther Party (NBPP) in regards to a possible
dragging death in Paris, Texas which is located about five hours north of
Houston. The first thing that immediately came to my mind was that 2008 is
the tenth anniversary of the lynching of James Byrd, Jr. in Jasper, Texas.
Liken unto that case, the victim in Paris was said to be a 24-year-old
Black man and his killers were two White men.
I immediately Googled the town and saw that there were only a handful of
media outlets that had covered the story which involved Brandon McClelland
and these two White males. One reason possibly that there was hardly any
coverage was that this killing took place on September 16, which was the
tail end of Hurricane Ike hitting landfall so I am sure the town officials
were hoping this would be swept under the rug. Too bad, because the Final
Call is on top of it!
Sister Krystle told me that members of the NBPP Dallas Chapter were on the
grounds already to meet with the family. So myself, Sis Krystle and my
older brother Deric Muhammad hit the road on Sunday, October 5 to do some
on the grounds work to see what really happened.
After a five hour drive, we arrived in the 'hood of Paris. We then
caravaned over to the home of the McClelland family where Brandon's mother
sat on the porch with tears in her eyes. Ms. Jacqueline McClelland and her
family gave recorded statements to me for my Final Call story as well as
the NBPP for an independent investigation. We were also joined by local
activists, a head of the State NAACP chapter and other friends of the
family.
After hearing their accounts, it was verified that her son was dragged on
the back of a pickup truck by these two White males and his body was
dismembered. Jasper all over again. Afterwards we drove over to the grave
site.
We then went to the scene of the crime in Lamar County. You would not
believe that parts of that Brandon McClelland's skull was still out there
on the ground! Shows how much the police cared. It was like an episode of
CSI:NY with blood tracks up and down the road and tire marks chased by the
blood trails. This was one of the most painful stories I have had to cover
in person.
"They tied my son to that truck and dragged him until his body parts were
detached", said his mother Jacqueline McClelland to the Final Call. "His
body was so destroyed that it could not even be embalmed by the funeral
home. This is a hate crime. I don't want the death penalty for these
killers because that would be too quick. I want them to suffer for life in
jail without parole since I will never have my son back".
Read my entire story in next week's edition of the Final Call Newspaper
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