NEW YORK–Two members of the United Methodist Church's Ministry in the Midst of Hate and Violence (MMHV) have renewed a call for a continued and thorough investigation of the hanging death of Raynard Johnson, a 17-year old African American youth who died June 16 in Kokomo, Mississippi.

Speaking at a July 14 public briefing at New York's Interchurch Center, the Reverend Joe Agne and Sandra Peters said that their discussions with Johnson's family, local church leaders, and others led them to believe that Johnson's death was not a suicide but rather a lynching.

"Too-quick official explanations are nearly always wrong," Agne said of the authorities' pronouncement on the cause of Johnson's death. "I have no doubt it was a lynching," said Agne. "Raynard did not end his life. Raynard was killed."

Agne and Peters represented the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) at a July 7 rally in Marion County, Mississippi, to draw attention to the investigation of Johnson's death. The event was organized by a local coalition of church activists calling itself Jesus People Against Pollution, in conjunction with other local and national groups. Among those attending were the Reverend Jesse Jackson and other religious and political leaders, including a number of United Methodist pastors.

Johnson, an honor roll student, was found by his father hanging from a tree in the family's front yard, his neck in a belt. While authorities have ruled the death a suicide, the youth's family said they suspect that Johnson may have been murdered by a group of white men who had previously harassed him in public when he was seen with a white woman. Both Raynard and his brother, Roger, were friends with two white women in the area.

Evidence pointing to the fact that Johnson's death was not a suicide, Agne and Peters said, includes the fact that the belt around Johnson's neck was not his, and that Johnson showed no signs of despondency prior to his death. In addition, the branch from which the 6' 1" Johnson was hanging was less than six feet off the ground, they said.

Among those present at the rally at which Agne and Peters represented the GBGM was Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till, victim of a 1955 lynching whose death was a milestone in the growing Civil Rights movement of the 1950s. The God that had sustained her for 45 years, she said, was the same God that "had opened up the Red Sea."

It is her kind of Christian witness that made it imperative for representatives of GBGM to be there for the rally, said Peters. "We knew we had to be there," she said. "There is a commitment now not to let this case die."

Peters stressed that it was important for the faith community at the local and national levels to work together on the case and not to lose sight of the fact that hate crimes have to be seen as part of a larger pattern of ongoing bigotry and violence in the United States.

Lois Dauway, Women's Division executive for social justice at the GBGM, also spoke at the briefing. She called for a thorough investigation of Johnson's death and said it was time for those at the highest levels of government to speak out on what she called a pattern of "hate and violence that is occurring daily" in the United States.

Contributions may be made to the GBGM's program "Ministry in the Midst of Hate and Violence," Advance # 982700-1, by writing a check payable to Advance GCFA and giving the check to your local church treasurer. Checks may also be forwarded to Advance GCFA, P.O. Box 9068, GPO, New York, NY 10087- 9068. Be sure to write the project name and number on the check.

July 17, 2000

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