SPEAKIN’ OUT NEWS
A Birmingham activist has been arrested and charged in connection with a fire set inside the Homewood Walmart on Lakeshore Parkway during protests over the police shooting of 18-year-old Jabari Peoples.
Mercutio Southall, 40, faces charges of first-degree arson and first-degree criminal mischief, Homewood police said Monday.
The Aug. 22 protest took place at Homewood Soccer Park, the same location where Peoples was killed by a Homewood police officer a month earlier. Six others were arrested that day on disorderly conduct charges. The Jefferson County District Attorney ruled the fatal shooting justified, saying Peoples was armed with a gun.
Investigators said Southall left the protest to stage a shopping cart inside Walmart with rags, blankets, fuel, and paint thinner, then returned later to ignite the fire. Damages exceeded $130,000, forcing the store to close for the rest of the day.
Southall, a longtime Black Lives Matter activist, has prior convictions tied to demonstrations in Homewood and Montgomery. He was booked into the Jefferson County Jail on Saturday and is being held without bond pending an Aniah’s Law hearing. Police said they are working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and more arrests could follow.
The investigation remains ongoing.
