By People’s Organization for Progress
The People’s Organization For Progress will hold a press conference to discuss the fatal police shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley and other victims of police brutality.
It will take place on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, 11:00am in front of the Rodino Federal Building, 970 Broad Street in Newark, New Jersey.
“We are having this press conference to condemn the police killing of a Black child in Senatobia, Mississippi. This is outrageous and totally unacceptable,” Lawrence Hamm, Chairman, People’s Organization for Progress stated.
“Police shot and killed a 1-year-old baby. There are no words that can describe the depth of pain, anger, and disgust that those of us who know about this horrendous incident feel right now,” Hamm said.
“It appears that there are no limits to the scourge of police brutality in this country. It seems that no one is safe from it, especially Black people,” he said.
“The police kill our sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, and even our grandmothers. And now they are killing our babies too,” he said.
Kohen Wiley was killed on June 14, 2026. A Senatobia police officer shot and killed the 1-year-old in his mother’s arms while they were in a car outside a Walmart Department store.
It is reported that police were responding to a call about the alleged shoplifting of diapers.
“We demand justice for baby Kohen. We support the demands of the family, their attorney, and the community. Body- camera footage and surveillance videos should be released immediately,” he said.
Authorities investigating the case have said that they will not release the footage until their investigation is complete. They said the investigation could take six to nine months.
“The officers involved in the killing of this baby must be held accountable for what they have done. Their guns and badges should be taken and they should be fired immediately,” Hamm said.
The name of the officer who shot and killed the child has not been officially revealed, but it was reported that the officer who discharged his weapon has been placed on administrative leave.
However, public records have identified Senatobia Police Department Sergeant Hunter Foster as having been involved in the incident, although he was not specifically identified as the shooter.
Hamm said that during the press conference they will also discuss other police brutality victims including Wali Bey, Carl Dorsey, and Deborah Terrell.
“We could not discuss the police killing of baby Kohen down there in Mississippi without discussing the police killings of Black people up here in New Jersey,” he said.
For more information call the People’s Organization For Progress (POP) at (973)801-0001.
