Sugar Town: Investigation Discovery Doc Explores Injustice In Handcuffed Black Youths Death – TCA
On March 3, 2014, 22-year old Victor White III was a suspect in a New Iberia, LA convenience store f..
On March 3, 2014, 22-year old Victor White III was a suspect in a New Iberia, LA convenience store fight which he wasnt involved. White was handcuffed and placed in the back of Louisiana State Police cruiser — and a coroner and police report says that the young men shot himself to death. There were also abrasions on his face.
Sugar Town the new Investigation Discovery documentary airing on Monday, Aug. 6, delves into this controversial case.
State Police did issue a cursory preliminary incident report stating that White had been shot with a .25 caliber semi-automatic handgun, but that no weapon had been found on the youth when he was searched prior to the shooting. Per the Iberia Parish Sheriffs Office, parish police are issued .45 caliber handguns. The Sheriffs Office also said via email that White had not been involved in a physical altercation with officers.
Back in March, the Associated Press reported that a civil lawsuit brought against Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal and a deputy by the White family was resolved before trial.
How can such injustice go down? Tony Brown, a Louisiana radio host of the program Eyes Open said at TCA that “we have a two-tiered judicial system (in the state) thats unfair to African Americans”.
Corrupt lawmakers and police can run rampant per Brown since there isnt a proper investigative media in rural areas of the state. “The media is comprised of novice people out of college and we dont have the media resources (like in heavily populated areas). Lawman have become problematic for Louisiana, but also in America.”
Also at the TCA session was Reverend Victor White, the father of White III, who called for “community policing, people coming together.”
Brown called White an anomaly given the fact that he has the courage to speak up about his sons death. “Theres a reluctance of parents to speak up and Victor is one of the few that weve seen,” said Brown.
Civil Rights attorney Carol Powell Lexing who is involved in the documentary calls its broadcast a great breakthrough: “Theres always power in people in numbers.”
