The leaders of the local chapters of the NAACP and the Nation of Islam made their demand at a news conference on the steps of Monroe City Hall on Friday. They charged that Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo and Police Chief Ron Schleuter have been insensitive and uncaring in the shooting of William Mark Henderson Sr., 58, last Sunday. His funeral was held on Saturday.

The day after the shooting, Mayo and Schleuter held a joint news conference and Mayo called the shooting "an unfortunate incident."

"The mayor has been insistent it was an accident. ... It was not an accident," said local NAACP President Otis Chisley.

Mayo has scheduled a community meeting to discuss the fatal shooting on Monday.

Chisley said a formal request for the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct a civil rights investigation into the shooting may be filed by late next week.

He wants a federal investigation because the victim was black and his family has said he had been treated for a mental condition. Witnesses of the shooting say the five officers involved are white.

The officers are on administrative leave with pay while Louisiana State Police investigate the shooting.

 

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