Seven months after 24-year-old D’Monterrio Gibson said the white father-and-son duo of Gregory Case and Brandon Case chased and shot at him in Brookhaven, Miss., the young man says he received a letter alleging that a Louisiana white supremacist had threatened to kill him.
Gibson provided the letter to the Mississippi Free Press on Aug. 23, 2022, after forwarding it to the FBI. The Mississippi Free Press has redacted portions of the letter that included identifying information.
The letter, which Gibson said he received on July 28, 2022, identified the individual who made the death threat against him by name, mentioned his address in Louisiana, and described him as “head of a white supremacy group based in Bossier/Shreveport (La.) area.” Louisiana shares a boundary with Mississippi. Shreveport is about 250 miles from Brookhaven.
At one of the group’s meetings, the individual allegedly “was saying all kinds of racist rants and how they need to get the race war going,” the letter continues. “He was telling (the people) that he wants to personally kill (D’Monterrio) Gibson and said he won’t miss this time like the other person did.”
Gibson told the Mississippi Free Press this week that he forwarded the information to the FBI on Aug. 9, 2022. The next day, FBI Special Agent Richard Boswell told Gibson in an email that the agency was aware of the individual allegedly making threats against him and named him in the reply. Gibson shared the email reply with the Mississippi Free Press.
“The FBI in Shreveport LA is aware of [redacted] and the letter,” Boswell wrote. “Other letters have been received by other individuals.”
“Our office in Shreveport (La.) is addressing the allegation,” he added.
Gibson told the Mississippi Free Press that before he learned of the letter, the writer had forwarded it to “a (Mississippi) state Senator, the (Mississippi Bureau of Investigation) and the FBI,” he said. “So they were aware well before July 28.”
The letter mentioned the wife of the individual allegedly making the threats and described her as a nurse who “bragged about shooting insulin into an elderly black man’s I.V. and it killed him,” the letter added. “[S]he has bragged about when the time comes, any black person on her floor won’t make it out alive.”
‘We Are Still Awaiting the Presentation of the Case’
D’Monterrio Gibson told the Mississippi Free Press that the lack of progress on his case is aggravating. “I received death threats,” Gibson said. “The victim—who got shot at (and) didn’t do anything wrong to anybody—and they still don’t want to move my case forward. … How did that make sense?”
Gibson’s attorney, Carlos Moore, expressed frustration that the case is not yet before a grand jury. “We are still awaiting the presentation of the case to the grand jury by the district attorney,” he told the Mississippi Free Press on Aug. 18, 2022. “(14th Judicial District Attorney Dee Bates) keeps saying—he’s been saying this for months—that he was waiting on the police department to get him the complete file, and then he’ll present it to the grand jury.”
“I think they are working in concert,” Moore said. “This makes no sense; this happened in January, and this is now mid-August, and there has been no presentation to the grand jury.”
On Aug. 19, 2022, the Mississippi Free Press called the Brookhaven Police Department to speak with Police Chief Kenneth Collins and ask about the cause of the delay. He did not return the call as of press time. That same day, the Mississippi Free Press contacted the office of 14th District Attorney Dee Bates, but the receptionist said he was unavailable. “The only way for you to get in touch with him is if he is in the office, and he is out of town; he’s going to be out of town for a while,” she said.
She later provided an undated press release. The receptionist said she did not know the press release date and could not give any other information.
“District Attorney Dee Bates was advised of a complaint filed by D’Monterrio Gibson, in which Mr. Gibson stated that a man had fired a firearm at him while he was making deliveries for FedEx in Brookhaven, Lincoln County, Mississippi,” the press release said. “The District Attorney is aware that this case is being investigated by law enforcement and that two individuals have been charged with Aggravated Assault and Conspiracy to commit Aggravated Assault in connection with this case.”
“If the municipal court determines there is probable cause to believe the defendant committed a felony offense, it is then bound over to the District Attorney for presentation to a Grand Jury,” the letter added. “Any case referred to the District Attorney will be presented to the Grand Jury of the appropriate county to seek an indictment.”
“Other than the above information, this office cannot comment on the complaint filed by Mr. Gibson or any other case while the investigation is ongoing.”
A dailyleader.com report on Aug. 15, 2022, quoted Bates explaining the delay in presenting the case to the grand jury. Bates noted that “[t]here are a couple of things that the Brookhaven Police Department is still trying to obtain,” he said. “Once they have that and turn over the completed file to us, it will go to the next available grand jury.”
Gibson told the Mississippi Free Press that he believes the delay in his case was deliberate and part of a scheme to sweep it under the rug.
“Honestly, I feel disrespected that the case hasn’t been presented to the grand jury because I know it has been done purposely,” Gibson alleged. “I know they are going to keep prolonging as long as they can because all the evidence and everything else is already there.”
“They (are) just dragging their feet because they want people to forget about it,” he added. “But I’m telling you, I’m not going to let people forget about it, whatever it takes.”
Attorney Moore told the Mississippi Free Press that on Aug. 18, 2022, he sent a text message to the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke to look into the case.
“We don’t have time for games,” he said. “We know that the Brookhaven police chief and City have been sued by a former officer who was asked to lie to arrest protesters, and she refused to do it, (and) she’s suing the city.”
The attorney shared the content of the text he sent to Clarke with the Mississippi Free Press. “I told her I didn’t trust the state prosecutor, so I’ve asked her to look into it,” he said. “I told her the state has not done anything since January, and I don’t trust that they are taking it seriously, so I asked her to look into it as hate, a racially motivated hate crime, similar to the Ahmaud Arbery case.”
Gibson told the Mississippi Free Press that he is still in therapy as a result of the toll that the January incident had on him. “Sometimes, I would like to come inside the house and close my door and stay inside my house for three to five days at a time,” he said. “It’s like a struggle every day to do the basic tasks that used to be easy for me.”
“I can’t even go outside for five minutes without getting (a bout of) anxiety,” he explained. “Honestly, I spend my day trying not to go insane.”
Also in Brookhaven: Buried Truth: Unresolved, Disgarded Lamar Smith Murder Haunts Lincoln County
