New Orleans: Activists demand city council and DA support family of Jace Lee Scott in fight for justice

New Orleans, LA – On Monday, June 29, a small crowd of community activists packed the city council audience for the Criminal Justice Committee meeting to keep up pressure for the family of Jace Lee Scott. Scott was a 19-year-old Black teenager murdered in 2019 by Andrew Gant, the son of New Orleans police officer Victor Gant Jr.

Jace’s mother, Shanta Scott, as well as activists from the New Orleans Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, rallied before the meeting wearing t-shirts that read “Justice for Jace Lee Scott” and signs that read “Fire crooked cop Victor Gant Jr.” After a brief rally, the protesters went inside the chambers with paper signs bearing the same slogans.

The Criminal Justice Committee heard reports across the policing and law departments in the city, from the Sheriff’s Office to Juvenile Court and more. Speakers gave public comment on the reports from the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) and the district attorney’s office respectively.

“Every family deserves confidence that a homicide investigation was conducted fairly without conflicts of interest,” said Shanta Scott to city council members and NOPD officials. “I am asking the NOPD homicide department to release the videos I have been asking for in my public records requests.”

Jace’s murder case is closed as a “negligent homicide” due to a plea deal, yet Shanta Scott reports some of the files in her son’s case are still sealed without any legal reasoning. The CDs she received from NOPD with supposed evidence were completely blank.

“It’s the responsibility of the district attorney’s office to stand up to crime, not just between people on the street, but also crime between police and civilians. We want you to take a real role in helping us look at this case. We’re here because we care, and if you care too we want you to stand with us,” said Toni Mar of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization to District Attorney Jason Williams.

In 2019, Gant Jr. was present during his own son’s interrogation and drove his son along with crime scene evidence to the NOPD station instead of calling 911 and leaving it to other officers to do proper intake. His actions broke several statutes of proper protocol. Jace’s family maintains that even beyond the mishandling of Jace’s murder, Gant Jr. has a history of misconduct, violence and corruption, and they demand he be fired from the force.

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