Lee Merritt
@LeeMerrittesq • 78,509 subscribers
Federal Civil Rights Attorney | Licensed in PA & NJ | Harvard Adjunct |Power 100 | Forbes Top Lawyer |Nation Builder | Top 10 Leader | Justice & Change ✊🏽🌎
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Eight years ago tonight, Botham Jean was sitting in his own apartment, eating a bowl of ice cream, when an off-duty Dallas police officer walked through his door and took his life. I’ve stood with this family since the earliest days of this case. I’ve watched Allison and Bertrum carry a loss no parent should have to carry, watched Allisa keep her brother’s name alive, and watched an 18-year-old Brandt Jean show the world a kind of grace I’ll never forget. “The Ballad of Botham Jean” tells the story of what happened that night — and who Botham was long before the world knew his name. Watch it. Share it. And say his name. Botham Shem Jean | September 29, 1991 – September 6, 2018 🎥: Investigation Discovery, “Impact of Murder”
Lee Merritt102,104 views • 1 day ago
This is what “swimming while Black” looks like in 2026 — an ordinary pool day with your children turned into a police encounter because a neighbor decides you don’t belong. According to the father, a white neighbor called the police on him and his sons because they were the only Black family at the pool. He says he had already shown proof that he stays there, yet she still demanded his ID. He further states that when officers arrived, they told her he did not have to show her anything — but by then one of his boys was in tears. He says the incident traumatized his children and that he may pursue legal action. 🎥: Leo Sullivan
Lee Merritt497,046 views • 1 month ago
The video shows Judson High School police officer Marc Laue confronting 15-year-old Jeremiah Johnson over an allegation that he pushed an assistant principal. Jeremiah was handcuffed, and body-camera footage shows Laue repeatedly driving his fists into the child’s abdomen. A child was subjected to physical violence before the facts of the allegation were established. That is a fundamental failure of judgment. This is what policing in our schools looks like: children made to fear the adults and institutions charged with keeping them safe. Schools should invest in counselors, restorative practices, and people trained to support children—not systems that turn school hallways into sites of violence. 🎥: @aprilgirlhasnopresident
Lee Merritt328,703 views • 1 month ago
A 36-year-old man from Texas flew to Bogotá, Colombia and allegedly sexually abused a 7-year-old boy on a balcony in broad daylight. Neighbors heard the screams. They filmed. They called police. Because of them, three children ages 4, 7, and 15 are now safe. Sources indicate he may have adopted all three of those children. Let that sink in. This is not an isolated incident. Colombia has already turned away 100 foreigners for sex tourism in just the first half of 2026. American passports are being used to exploit the most vulnerable children in the world. Colombia’s president is now calling for visas to stop predators from entering the country. 🎥: CBS News / Lilia Luciano
Lee Merritt953,269 views • 2 months ago
After being struck, she said: “You can’t punch me in my face.” Trooper Arellano responded: “Says who?” She repeatedly asked for help and to call her mother. Alisa is a daughter. She is a young woman. She is a human being. Too many times, we have watched routine traffic stops involving young Black people end in excessive and unnecessary force—or worse, with lives taken. No one should have to fear being physically assaulted, harmed, or stripped of their dignity during a traffic stop. Encounters with law enforcement must be grounded in professionalism, restraint, and respect for human life. This should never have happened. Alisa Hackett deserves justice and full accountability from the Arkansas State Police. 🎥: Arkansas State Police dashcam footage via NEA Report
Lee Merritt315,764 views • 1 month ago
Black students at UNC-Chapel Hill gathered in a campus building for a watch party. A man who had no affiliation with the university entered the locked building and turned that room into a place of fear. He shouted racial slurs. He threw objects. Students dropped to the floor because they believed he was reaching for a gun. He was later seen holding an aerosol can and a lighter. Police took him into custody, and he was hospitalized for signs of mental distress. He is expected to face charges including aggravated assault, disorderly conduct, and vandalism, and will be trespassed from campus. The Orange County District Attorney will determine whether hate crime charges apply. The university did not issue a campus-wide alert, saying there was no ongoing threat once he was detained. Students have questioned that decision, and how a man with no connection to the school got into a building that was locked. Updates to follow as more information becomes available. 🎥: WRAL
Lee Merritt39,834 views • 4 days ago
At the Costa Maya pier in Mexico, Myron was on a Carnival cruise with his wife for their anniversary when an elderly passenger fell from the pier into the ocean. Before anyone could fully react, he jumped in — no life jacket, no safety net, just instinct and courage to save a stranger’s life. Salute to this king. The world needs more people who move like this when it matters most. 🎥 TT: Amy nelson
Lee Merritt897,312 views • 3 months ago
This mother was traveling through Hurst with her 15-year-old son in the passenger seat when she was pulled over and accused of speeding. She planned to contest the claim in court but still provided her license, as required by law. She declined to take the paper receipt of the citation, protesting what she believed was racial profiling. The officer insisted—tossing the ticket toward her when she refused to take it from his hand. She instinctively tossed the paper out of the window. What happened next is an example of everything that is wrong with American policing. This officer had three clear options: 1.Issue a second citation for littering using the information he already had. 2.Walk away—the citation had already been issued. 3.Instead, he chose to snatch this mother out of her vehicle in front of her child, slam her to the ground, seriously injure her, and take her to jail… where she was ultimately issued a citation and then released to the hospital for treatment of the injuries caused during the arrest.
Lee Merritt1,339,333 views • 6 months ago
BREAKING: The state removed his throat before the family could get a second opinion. Nolan Wells’ independent autopsy results: cause and manner of death undetermined, pending investigation. Attorney Ben Crump says the pathologist couldn’t examine Wells’ lungs or stomach because his throat structures and other organs had already been removed and dissected during the original Mississippi State autopsy. The report also found significant red discoloration in the soft tissue at the back of Wells’ head and behind his ears. This family deserves answers immediately. The fight is not over. It has only just begun. Justice for Nolan Wells 🎥: NewsNation Ben Crump
Lee Merritt308,030 views • 1 month ago
The gag order lifted. And the mask came off with it. After sentencing, Austin Metcalf’s father Jeff Metcalf went live on TikTok and was caught on a racist rant about Karmelo Anthony, including calling him a “watermelon felon,” saying Black people get “all the free sh*t we give you,” claiming “400 years ago someone sold you to us,” and attacking Black fathers for not being involved in their children’s lives. This is the same man who stood in that courtroom and said “this was never about race.” The prosecution struck every qualified Black juror from the panel. A gag order silenced public response for nearly a year. And the moment the muzzle came off, this is who he showed us he was. Karmelo Anthony did not get a fair trial. And now the victim’s own father has confirmed in his own words what this community has known from the beginning. 🎥: Secret Service Sam
Lee Merritt566,524 views • 2 months ago
On August 26, 2025, 19-year-old Black autistic college student Victoria Lang was locked out of her dorm in Wichita Falls, Texas and went to a downtown McDonald’s to change her clothes while she waited for housing to be sorted out. A manager called 911, claiming she’d been in the restroom too long and assuming she was homeless. Wichita Falls police officers Daniel Wilson and Douglas Gulley responded; body cam footage shows Wilson choking, dragging, and hogtying Lang as they force her out of the restroom, into the restaurant, and into a patrol car — force the department later labeled “unnecessary and excessive”. Both officers left the Wichita Falls Police Department, with Wilson fired in November 2025 and Gulley resigning afterward. On May 6, 2026, the city finally released five angles of body cam and cruiser video from the arrest, and days later a grand jury indicted former officer Daniel Wilson over his actions in that McDonald’s bathroom. 🎥: Texoma's Homepage
Lee Merritt584,110 views • 3 months ago
Mother Fletcher survived Tulsa at 7. Died at 111 without justice. “I live through the massacre every day.”
Lee Merritt1,406,169 views • 9 months ago
“Karmelo, we love you.” That was Andrew Anthony speaking about his son Wednesday in Dallas, standing beside the appellate team and saying plainly what this family has said from the beginning: this fight is not over. On August 22, Judge Michael Chitty denied Karmelo’s motion for a new trial. That ruling was disappointing. It was not the end. The case is now before the Fifth Court of Appeals. Attorney Russell Wilson II is working to obtain the full trial record by October, and the team will pursue every legal remedy available. The principle here has never changed. Under our Constitution, you are not simply entitled to a trial. You are entitled to a fair one. A record built on agreements made off the record cannot satisfy that standard. We will continue to advocate for Karmelo through every avenue the law provides. 🎥: FOX 4
Lee Merritt21,837 views • 4 days ago
Dallas resident Deondray Taylor shared video showing him in handcuffs outside his home after an encounter with Dallas police. Taylor states that officers came to his door looking for a person named Deion. He states that he provided officers with his name, date of birth, address, and Social Security number, and that his information did not match the person they were seeking. Taylor states that he was released after family members provided his identification. The Fourth Amendment protects people from unreasonable seizures. Police must have specific, objective facts before detaining someone, and the use of handcuffs must be reasonable under the circumstances. The circumstances surrounding Taylor’s detention warrant a full review. 🎥: @okayluldray
Lee Merritt31,715 views • 7 days ago
A bus driver in Conway, SC watched an 8-year-old’s arm get stuck in the door — and continued driving anyway. On July 21, 2026, it was announced that Horry County agreed to pay $175,000 to the girl’s mother after the August 2023 incident. She told the driver, Thomas Michael Interlandi, that her arm was stuck. Instead of stopping and rendering aid, he told her, “you shouldn’t have put your hand out there,” and put the bus in reverse while she was still trapped. His employment with Horry County Schools ended four days later, but he was never held accountable in criminal court.
Lee Merritt136,337 views • 1 month ago
More than 70 suspected modern-day lynchings have been identified across seven Southern states since 2000 in a civil-rights report examining cases that have received little public attention. In 2026, multiple publicly reported deaths of Black people found hanging or in apparent-hanging circumstances have raised urgent questions. Some have been ruled suicides, others remain under investigation, and families in several cases have challenged the conclusions reached by law enforcement. Families are left grieving while communities are told to accept the same conclusion again and again: suicide, no foul play, case closed. Yet with surveillance cameras, drones, license-plate readers, and digital evidence everywhere, why are there still so few answers, so little transparency, and no accountability? We cannot normalize Black families having to bury loved ones while basic questions go unanswered. Every suspicious death deserves an independent investigation, preserved evidence, public transparency, and accountability wherever the facts lead. These were not just cases or headlines. Their lives mattered. 🎥: Pastor Jamal Harrison Bryant @jamalbryantpodcast
Lee Merritt13,829 views • 3 days ago
A 43‑year‑old DeLand mother of six, Nicole Grayson, lost her life after jumping into the St. Johns River to rescue her 4‑year‑old son, who had fallen in while trying to retrieve a toy. She kept her child’s head above the fast‑moving current until a passing boater and bystanders were able to pull him to safety; he survived without physical injury. Our hearts go out to Ms. Grayson’s children, loved ones and the Volusia County community as they grieve this unimaginable loss. We honor her courage and extend our deepest condolences to her family. 🎥: FOX 35 Orlando
Lee Merritt145,684 views • 1 month ago
The military admits they made a “mistake” brutally arresting my client Kareem El—a Black former Marine captain targeted. We don’t accept “mistake” as closure. We demand full accountability, policy changes to prevent this from happening to another innocent person. The Washington Post
Lee Merritt732,070 views • 8 months ago
