Benjamin Brown (May 12, 1945 – May 12, 1967) was an African-American student at

Jackson State University Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a Public university, public Historically Black colleges and universities, historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and ...

active in the civil rights movement, killed on campus during a standoff between law enforcement and students. Upon encountering the standoff (at the sidelines) after picking up a sandwich from a cafe to bring back to his wife, he was shot by two stray shotgun blasts from law enforcement firing into the crowd. No arrests were ever made. In 2001, a Hinds County grand jury reviewed the case and blamed two deceased officers: Jackson police officer Buddy Kane and Mississippi Highway Patrolman Lloyd Jones. The Brown family filed a lawsuit and settled for $50,000 from the city of Jackson. There has been no marker on the JSU campus recognizing the events that took place. The

Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white ...

memorialized Benjamin Brown as a civil rights martyr on a

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

References

External links

Benjamin Brown Case File Closing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Benjamin 1945 births 1967 deaths African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in Mississippi American civil rights activists