Memphis Branch NAACP News Conference Regarding the Death of Darrius Stewart
Research
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in 1909 and is the oldest civil and human rights organization in the United States. The Memphis Branch NAACP was formed in 1917 and has been on the forefront of fighting for the rights of minorities since the organization was formed. The murder of Darrius Stewart by former Memphis Police Officer Connor Schilling was another opportunity for the NAACP to express concerns over the murders of African-American men in this country. Based on a survey by The Guardian, more than 1,200 young African-American men were killed by police officers in 2015 in this country. With the murders of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Tamir Rice and others, the African-American community and those supportive of more transparency in criminal justice reform are becoming more vocal in demanding solutions to these murders.
Darrius Stewart was in the car with friends when Officer Schilling pulled the car over because a headlight was out. Stewart was in the back seat. The officer asked all passengers for their identification. Schilling checked for warrants and found a warrant on Stewart and asked him to exit the car. The 19 year old and the officer scuffled and Stewart was shot by officer Schilling. He died at a local hospital. Stewart’s parents said that the warrants were a case of mistaken identity.
Planning
CMG was contacted by the Executive Director of the Memphis Branch NAACP Madeleine Taylor on July 21, 2015 and was asked to schedule a new conference for the next morning at 9 a.m. Account Supervisor Dawn Carter created a media opportunity and distributed it to the media and made follow-up phone calls. Memphis Branch NAACP President Keith Norman created talking points for the news conference and invited Executive Committee members to participant in the event.
Execution
The news conference was held on Wednesday, July 22, 2015 at First Baptist Broad Church. Ten Memphis Branch NAACP Executive Committee members attended the news conference. President Norman opened the news conference with his remarks with a razor focus on local and national sentiment around the murder of African-American men. He asked for a full investigation into the murder of Stewart and asked that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) handle this case and other questionable murders by law enforcement. President Norman also asked the Memphis City Council to reinstate the Police Civilian Review Board for added transparency.
The following media outlets covered and reported on the news conference: The Commercial Appeal, The Memphis Flyer, The Memphis Daily News, WMC -TV Channel 5, WREG-TV Channel 3, WHBQ-TV Channel 13 and WANT-TV Channel 30.
Evaluation
The news conference had a chain reaction. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director Mark Gwyn held a news conference a few days later reinforcing TBI’s commitment to investigating questionable police related murders and the case of Darrius Stewart.
Media impressions – 559,219.
Relevant files and coverage examples
Darrius Stewart killing media opp 7 22 15
Darrius Stewart News Conference Remarks
