Attorney Ben Crump says the ferocious search for the truth about what happened to Nolan Wells is bigger than just one person.
When news broke about the mysterious death of 18-year-old Nolan Wells during a boat trip in Horn Island, Mississippi, communities across social media tuned into the search for answers.
“People from New York, people from Los Angeles, people from Chicago, Detroit, London, Paris, all over the world have been calling Nolan Wells’ name,” Attorney Ben Crump said in a speech at Nolan’s funeral service. “We’re on a ferocious search for the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.”
As more and more conflicting reports emerge surrounding the events that may have led up to Wells’ body being discovered on July 6, Crump, his team and Wells’ family have been urging people who may have been on Horn Island to come forward with any details about what happened that day.
“We stand for justice, no matter who it convicts or who it acquits. We stand for transparency because we don’t need law enforcement to narrate,” he continued. “And that’s why we need all of you to encourage people who were on Horn Island on July 4. If you took a picture, if you have a video, if you have Snapchat, if you have anything, we are pleading on behalf of Elmore and Christine… as she said, any parent, any parent, would want the answers as to what happened to their child. They went out on the boat. The boat came back, and Nolan washed up on the shore two days later, dead.”
Crump, who has worked on a number of notable civil rights cases, called out that deeper meaning behind the fervent fight for justice in Nolan’s case. Thinking about the number of Black lives that “were taken from us in highly questionable circumstances,” Crump recalled Trayvon Marin, Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown, Sonya Massey, and many more.
“We want answers because we love our children just like you love your children. Our tears are just as painful as your tears, our pain hurts just as much as your pain. So whatever you would do for your children, if they were on that boat on one island on July 4th, we want you to do it for Nolan Wales. Whatever investigation you would give for your children. We want you to do it for Nolan Wells. Whatever search you would do on people’s phones for your children, we want you to do that for Nolan Wells,” he continued. “Understand that Nolan Wells was the son of Christine and Elmore, but he really was all our sons. Because if something this tragic can happen to their son, It can happen to your children.”
“So we all have to stand up together and say we’re fighting for justice for Nolan Wells because he is our son too,” he added. “Until we get answers, until we get to the truth, until we get to justice, we gonna stand up and we’re gonna keep ringing the justice bells for Nolan Wells. We’re gonna ring the justice bells for Nolan Wells here in Mississippi. We’re gonna ring the justice bells for Nolan Wells in the United States of America. We gonna ring the justice bells for Nolan Wells all over the world because Nolan’s life matters!”
