{"id":17989,"date":"2026-07-23T05:19:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T09:19:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/health-weight-loss.info-tips.net\/?p=17989"},"modified":"2026-07-23T05:19:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T09:19:39","slug":"a-death-revives-concerns-about-police-brutality-six-years-after-national-reckoning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/health-weight-loss.info-tips.net\/?p=17989","title":{"rendered":"A Death Revives Concerns About Police Brutality Six Years After National Reckoning"},"content":{"rendered":"


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SIKESTON, Mo. \u2014 Not everybody at Lloyd Gilmore\u2019s funeral knew him properly. One girl, who had ironed her garments two days upfront, stated she simply wished to be there for his household. Faculty-age kids, guided by their dad and mom, approached his open casket within the sanctuary of Cornerstone Baptist Church and peeked inside. Different folks seemed away.<\/p>\n

On that wet Friday afternoon, a whole bunch of such mourners gathered to honor the person who went to the police division for assist and didn\u2019t come again.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep woke. Keep guarded,\u201d his daughter Lania Gilmore advised the church stuffed with mourners on this metropolis of fewer than 16,000 with a protracted, troubled historical past of racial violence. \u201cBe there for your loved ones and love on each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her father, a 44-year-old Sikeston resident, died in police custody on June 10. Throughout a fast, bodily altercation involving seven Sikeston law enforcement officials, he was shocked with a Taser and put into hobble restraints, which permit officers to hogtie an individual\u2019s toes and fingers, in keeping with a police report obtained by KFF Health News<\/a> via a public information request. Two autopsies have been carried out, however they \u2014 and Gilmore\u2019s explanation for dying \u2014 had not been launched as of mid-July whereas the results of a toxicology report remained pending.<\/p>\n

Gilmore had approached an officer within the car parking zone of the police station, in keeping with the report, talking phrases the officer stated he couldn’t perceive. Lania Gilmore stated that her dad, who had psychological well being points, had requested her to name the police division and that he ran there in search of assist.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sort of trusted the truth that he was OK as a result of he was on the police station,\u201d she advised KFF Well being Information.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLloyd Gilmore, a 44-year-old Sikeston resident, had been on the lookout for a secure house on the day he died, stated his daughter Lania Gilmore. He advised her to name the police division for assist. Earlier than he died, the police shocked him with a Taser and put him into hobble restraints. \t\t\t\t\t\t (Lania Gilmore)<\/figcaption>
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA few of Lloyd Gilmore\u2019s kids embrace throughout his funeral on June 26 at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Sikeston. \u201cKeep woke. Keep guarded,\u201d his daughter Lania Gilmore (left) advised the church stuffed with mourners. \u201cBe there for your loved ones and love on each other.\u201d\t\t\t\t\t\t (Cara Anthony\/KFF Well being Information)<\/figcaption>
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A plaque is displayed throughout Lloyd Gilmore\u2019s funeral. Tons of of mourners gathered in his honor. (Cara Anthony\/KFF Well being Information)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At his funeral, hardly anybody spoke of the police \u2014 and, on the household\u2019s request, the funeral residence declined to ask police to supply visitors help as they often would. A preacher did his greatest to consolation Gilmore\u2019s household. \u201cGenerally we’d like not speak,\u201d the Rev. Tommy Robinson Jr. advised the group. \u201cWe simply must pay attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

However after years of expressing issues of racial bias throughout the metropolis\u2019s police division, some Black Sikeston residents surprise if anybody is listening in any respect anymore. They need justice even because the nationwide reckoning over police brutality has light from public view.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want the police. We simply want them to do their jobs appropriately and depart Black folks alone,\u201d stated Mark Wiggins, president of Sikeston\u2019s NAACP department. \u201cThey comprehend it. We all know it. The reality of the matter is there\u2019s a number of unwarranted cop killings of Black males in America.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Mark Wiggins, president of the native NAACP department, sits exterior his Sikeston, Missouri, residence. Wiggins grew up within the metropolis, which has a historical past of racial violence. After Lloyd Gilmore died in police custody on June 10, Wiggins protested alongside different residents and civil rights activists. (Cara Anthony\/KFF Well being Information)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\tE mail Signal-Up\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to KFF Well being Information’ free Morning Briefing.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

However regardless of worldwide protests in 2020 within the wake of high-profile police-involved killings of Black folks, the general public paid little consideration when a prestigious group launched a report final 12 months about deaths in custody, stated Roger Mitchell Jr., a forensic pathologist ending his time period as president of the National Medical Association<\/a>, which represents African American physicians. The report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine<\/a> urged Congress to require states to gather and report knowledge on all in-custody deaths, an issue that Mitchell stated disproportionately impacts Black males.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re in an anti-diversity surroundings,\u201d Mitchell stated. \u201cWe\u2019re in a conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upon returning to the White Home final 12 months, President Donald Trump immediately signed an executive order<\/a> that focused range, fairness, and inclusion applications. Because of that and different measures, funding for racial fairness has dwindled, researchers who as soon as studied violence as a public well being difficulty have redirected their work to much less politically charged matters, and a rising worry {of professional} and political retaliation has made it more and more troublesome to maintain the momentum.<\/p>\n

Kevin Myles, a civil rights chief based mostly in Georgia who has skilled tens of hundreds of activists across the nation, stated he noticed a shift in priorities round racial fairness earlier than Trump was reelected. Since then, it has escalated, he stated, and he has misplaced at the least half his funding for his work on fairness, youngster welfare, and mass incarceration.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t assume we actually have been ready. It\u2019s not that we didn\u2019t take it critically. I don\u2019t assume we have been psychologically ready for what this implies,\u201d Myles stated. \u201cAll the pieces now we have finished prior to now was observe. The sport has simply began.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sikeston, positioned within the rural space of southeastern Missouri referred to as the Bootheel, has a historical past of racial violence, together with the brutal lynching of a Black man named Cleo Wright in 1942. One other Black man, Undraus Nabors, was discovered useless in a grain silo months after heading out to choose up his white girlfriend in 1999. In April 2020, lower than a month earlier than George Floyd\u2019s homicide in Minneapolis, an unarmed Black man, Denzel Taylor, was shot at the least 18 occasions by Sikeston law enforcement officials. The town was the topic of the 2024 \u201cSilence in Sikeston\u201d documentary film and podcast<\/a> by KFF Well being Information, Retro Report, and WORLD.<\/p>\n

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The \u201cSilence in Sikeston\u201d documentary movie explores how the nation\u2019s first federally investigated lynching and a police killing 78 years aside hang-out the identical rural Missouri group. The movie from KFF Well being Information and Retro Report explores the lasting influence of such trauma \u2014 and what it means to talk out about it. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/article>\n

Larry McClellon, a longtime Sikeston resident who based a civil rights group referred to as And Justice for All, has expressed issues concerning the integrity of his metropolis\u2019s police division for many years. He\u2019s additionally satisfied that being vocal about racism in Sikeston comes with a worth.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a darkish facet of Sikeston that lots of people have no idea and don\u2019t choose to know,\u201d McClellon advised KFF Well being Information in 2021 after police fatally shot Denzel Taylor. \u201cHowever I\u2019ve walked the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n

He believes somebody burned down the headquarters of And Justice for All in 2019. A report from the city\u2019s public safety department<\/a> stated the hearth was \u201csuspicious in nature.\u201d The electrical energy in his constructing wasn\u2019t on when flames erupted, he stated, so he wasn\u2019t glad when an investigator referred to as it {an electrical} fireplace. He requested the division to take one other look. Nobody was charged.<\/p>\n

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The headquarters of And Justice for All, a civil rights advocacy group in Sikeston, was destroyed in a 2019 fireplace. A report from the town\u2019s public security division says the 2019 fireplace was \u201csuspicious in nature.\u201d Larry McClellon, a longtime Sikeston resident who based the group, has expressed issues about racial violence locally. (Cara Anthony\/KFF Well being Information)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

James McMillen, the town\u2019s police chief, advised KFF Well being Information in 2021 that he had plans to enhance policing earlier than Taylor died. On the time, McMillen, who’s white, stated he and his division had \u201ca poor relationship\u201d with Black residents within the metropolis. He began some group conferences after Taylor\u2019s dying, however he stated in 2024 that individuals had stopped exhibiting up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve tried,\u201d the chief stated throughout a City Council meeting<\/a> this month. \u201cHowever, as my daddy would say, a relationship is a two-way road. And so I don\u2019t know what else I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through the assembly, Lania Gilmore pleaded with the town to launch extra details about her father\u2019s case. Different residents wished to know why the officers concerned weren’t positioned on administrative depart instantly after Gilmore died.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will depend on the circumstances. It does,\u201d McMillen advised them. \u201cYou\u2019re assuming a sure set of particulars that you simply don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

One other resident requested the town about coaching for officers. McMillen stated his officers are skilled. Nationwide, many communities have created specialized non-law enforcement teams<\/a> to help folks in disaster.<\/p>\n

\u201cChief doesn’t need anyone to be mistreated in any respect. Interval,\u201d Sikeston Mayor Greg Turnbow, who’s white, stated on the assembly. \u201cAnd I assure you, I put my life in his fingers. I\u2019d do it at present.\u201d<\/p>\n

McMillen declined to touch upon KFF Well being Information\u2019 questions on Gilmore\u2019s case and the group\u2019s issues concerning the division. The Missouri State Freeway Patrol investigated the dying and deliberate to refer the outcomes to the Cape Girardeau County prosecuting legal professional, Sgt. Bradley Germann stated.<\/p>\n

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Lloyd Gilmore\u2019s buddies Tawanna and Willie Wilson wore customized T-shirts to his funeral. (Cara Anthony\/KFF Well being Information)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAndre Younger and his 5-year-old son view Gilmore\u2019s physique in the course of the funeral.\t\t\t\t\t\t (Cara Anthony\/KFF Well being Information)<\/figcaption>
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCynthia Gilmore sits within the entrance row of her son\u2019s funeral at Cornerstone Baptist Church.\t\t\t\t\t\t (Cara Anthony\/KFF Well being Information)<\/figcaption>
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The day Gilmore died, his daughter stated, he had been anxious and was on the lookout for a \u201csecure house.\u201d So, she stated, he had spent a lot of the day watching her braid hair on the salon the place she works, then he went together with her to her eyelash extension appointment. Lania Gilmore stated he was nonetheless feeling undone, however she wanted some house, so he requested her to name the police as an alternative. She stated she did, then she watched him run towards the police station.<\/p>\n

The remaining unfolded inside half-hour, in keeping with the police report and 911 call logs<\/a>. The police report stated that, amid an ensuing scuffle, Gilmore bit one officer\u2019s hand \u2014 \u201chowever didn’t break the pores and skin.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the police shocked and restrained Gilmore, a paramedic gave him a sedative, and the emergency medical providers took him to a hospital, in keeping with the police report. The report listed 5 victims \u2014 all police \u2014 and accused Gilmore of third-degree assault and resisting arrest.<\/p>\n

Lania Gilmore stated police advised her that her father overdosed. However she stated she doesn\u2019t perceive how that will have been attainable, given the quick time between when he left her and an ambulance was referred to as.<\/p>\n

The town\u2019s police drive knew Gilmore had psychological well being points, his daughter stated. Law enforcement officials in a neighboring group \u201cexcessively tased\u201d and beat him in 2020, court<\/a> records show<\/a>. He obtained a $65,000 settlement 5 years later, and she or he stated that have left a mark.<\/p>\n

After Gilmore died, Louis Houston, a longtime Sikeston resident, stated he determined to maneuver half-hour exterior the town to a neighboring group, the place he feels safer. He stated listening to about different Black Sikeston residents being harassed by the police division had began to have an effect on his psychological well being.<\/p>\n

\u201cI received on away from right here,\u201d stated Houston, who returned to Sikeston for the funeral.<\/p>\n

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Louis Houston moved to Sikeston virtually 20 years in the past however just lately determined to maneuver away after Lloyd Gilmore died in police custody. He says the best way the police division treats Black residents was affecting his psychological well being. (Cara Anthony\/KFF Well being Information)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Houston\u2019s already fascinated about the conversations he can have along with his younger kids about how to respond<\/a> in the event that they ever work together with a police officer. He has a script in thoughts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWatch out,\u201d Houston plans to inform them. \u201cThey will help you, however additionally they can kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Associated Article<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Each household has secrets and techniques. I spent the previous few years reporting about racial violence in Sikeston, Missouri. Interviewing Black households there helped me uncover my household\u2019s traumatic previous, too.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n


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SIKESTON, Mo. \u2014 Not everybody at Lloyd Gilmore\u2019s funeral knew him properly. One girl, who had ironed her garments two days upfront, stated she simply wished to be there for his household. Faculty-age kids, guided by their dad and mom, approached his open casket within the sanctuary of Cornerstone Baptist Church and peeked inside. Different […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_mo_disable_npp":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[7920,1513,4360,1727,7919,7921,7918,312],"class_list":["post-17989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-brutality","tag-concerns","tag-death","tag-national","tag-police","tag-reckoning","tag-revives","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/health-weight-loss.info-tips.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/health-weight-loss.info-tips.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/health-weight-loss.info-tips.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/health-weight-loss.info-tips.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/health-weight-loss.info-tips.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17989"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/health-weight-loss.info-tips.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17991,"href":"https:\/\/health-weight-loss.info-tips.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17989\/revisions\/17991"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/health-weight-loss.info-tips.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/health-weight-loss.info-tips.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/health-weight-loss.info-tips.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/health-weight-loss.info-tips.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}