‘Harboring Hatred’: Mississippi Police Chief Overseeing Cops Involved in Fatal Shooting of Black Toddler Used Racial Slurs Over 12 Times in Messages
Private text messages attributed to Senatobia Police Chief Harold Vanderford show the department leader repeatedly using racist slurs in conversations with a colleague, including after he took command of the Mississippi police department last fall.
The messages, reviewed by reporters from multiple outlets, reportedly contain more than a dozen uses of a racial slur across 10 conversations dating back to last summer.
Vanderford, a 60-year-old Greenville native and 29-year law enforcement veteran, had been brought in as a new leader after city officials removed his predecessor following several controversies involving the department.
The revelations come as Senatobia remains under scrutiny following the fatal police shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley, a Black toddler who was inside a vehicle when officers opened fire after responding to a shoplifting report at a local Walmart.
Vanderford had presented himself as a leader who would help repair the relationship between law enforcement and the community. When he took over the department, he said his administration would focus on “reestablishing and solidifying trust.”
The private messages tell a different story.
In one exchange, Vanderford described experiencing a “racist moment.” In another, he wrote that he had “almost beat a n—ger and white woman’s a—s a few minutes ago.” The person who received the messages provided them to reporters and identified Vanderford as the sender. Three other people also confirmed that the phone number connected to the messages belonged to the chief.
The messages reportedly continued after Vanderford became chief.
Three months before the Walmart shooting, he used the slur while discussing a Mississippi State University athlete following a college sporting event. In at least two April exchanges, he reportedly used the same word while referring to himself or a white friend.
On another occasion, Vanderford wrote that he had been drinking while repeatedly shouting the slur. He later claimed he had “screamed” it 15 times and hoped his neighbors could hear him. On Thanksgiving, he texted that he had “just had a racist moment on Goodman Road,” a street in nearby Southaven.
The Mississippi chapter of the NAACP condemned the reported language.
“It is completely unacceptable for any law enforcement in Mississippi to use racial slurs, whether in private or in public, because no official can protect and serve a community while harboring hatred toward its people,” said Charles Taylor, the organization’s executive director.
The comments are surfacing against the backdrop of a police department that has faced previous criticism over its treatment of Black residents.
In June, officers responded to the Walmart after Vellesiya Wiley and Latoya Ferrell were accused of stealing baby clothes and a package of diapers. The women entered a vehicle with Wiley’s 1-year-old son, Kohen, inside. Officers surrounded the vehicle with their guns drawn.
Wiley has said she was holding Kohen as the officers approached. As the vehicle began moving, she lifted her son in an attempt to make sure police could see that a child was inside. She then heard three or four gunshots.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the shooting, offered a different account. In a statement issued on the day of the incident, the agency said officers had attempted to stop the vehicle but that “the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one.”
Officials have declined to release body-camera or surveillance footage from the encounter while the investigation remains ongoing. The Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus has demanded an update from the state attorney general.
The Wiley family has challenged the police account through its attorney, civil rights lawyer Ben Crump. Crump has presented forensic evidence that he said indicates officers fired from the side of the vehicle. He argued that the evidence raises questions about whether the officer involved was actually in a position where he faced an immediate threat.
The case has also brought scrutiny to another Senatobia officer, Sgt. Hunter Foster.
Documents released by state law enforcement “in error” identified Foster as the subject of the investigation into the shooting. Internal complaints obtained by Mississippi Today also accuse Foster of making racist comments toward two colleagues in the months before Kohen’s death.
One complaint involved Joshua Griffin, a white officer who has a daughter with a Black woman. According to the complaint, Foster told Griffin, “you need to get your people,” while discussing a foot chase involving Black people. The complaint also accused Foster of making a crude remark about the owner of a suspicious vehicle, which Griffin interpreted as a reference to a Black woman.
Foster allegedly remained on patrol despite those accusations. Two days before the Walmart shooting, he allegedly directed another racial slur toward Black officer Dexter Smith. Smith formally complained the day after Kohen was killed.
Foster’s attorney, Martin Zummach, has not addressed the specific allegations involving the officer’s remarks. However, Zummach said in a statement that he was “very convinced” Foster would ultimately be cleared of wrongdoing.
According to the complaint, the exchange happened in the department’s booking room while Smith was completing paperwork. Foster allegedly asked, “Who is this Black motherf—ker back there?” Smith said the comment was made within earshot of other officers and that the room fell silent afterward.
Smith later filed a formal complaint over the incident. He ultimately resigned from the department about a month later, citing what he described as a lack of “any meaningful response or resolution.” Mississippi Today reported that the incident contributed to his decision to leave the department.
The allegations against Foster have drawn additional scrutiny because they surfaced just days before the Walmart shooting.
Foster was present during the encounter, and multiple reports have identified him as the officer who fired the shots, although authorities have not officially confirmed that he shot Kohen. The Senatobia Police Department placed him on leave following the incident.