Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division announces at a news conference, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, in Jackson, Miss., that it has opened an investigation into the City of Lexington, Miss., and the Lexington Police Department, focusing on the police department's use of force and its stops, searches and arrests. U.S. Attorney Todd W. Gee, for the Southern District of Mississippi, right, listens. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department launched an investigation Wednesday into alleged civil rights violations by police in a majority Black Mississippi city, stepping in following accusations that officers used excessive force and arrested people without justification.