Chapter 828: First visit to the Southern Province

Chapter 828: First visit to the Southern Province

"So, they took the photos of the scene with a flip phone?" Aubrey laughed badly, which was the unique sense of superiority of big cities over small rural areas.

The difference in pixels of the photos on the screen made people feel like they were back in the last century. Alice tried to adjust the overexposed faces of the three dead, but with little success.

Jubal also shrugged helplessly. The sheriff's office in a small place has limited resources. Arkansas is a poor and remote place with little presence in the eyes of the old Americans, and it is not even as famous as it was on the Chinese Internet in Jack's previous life.

At least on a certain small broken website, the number of views of a video of a highway stop by the Arkansas State Police can be close to the total population of the state (less than 3 million).

Of course, if we only talk about Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas, some black people in the United States who have experienced "unhappy education" should have some impression.

On September 24, 1957, the then US President Eisenhower issued a military order and dispatched 8 transport planes to transport the 327th Combat Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock to escort 9 black students to school. This was known as the "Little Rock Incident".

In the eyes of black Americans, this was a landmark event that opened a gap in the racial segregation system at the time, but for the federal government at the time, it had another meaning.

As we all know, the United States is a federal country, and the National Guard of each state is usually under the dual leadership of the state government and the federal government.

At that time, the four traditional southern states including Arkansas and Alabama were extremely traditional, and it was the Arkansas National Guard who blocked the school in the name of public safety under the order of the governor at the time that prevented black students from going to school.

This was shortly after the end of World War II. Black people shed blood and tears on the battlefield. In addition, during the Cold War, the United States faced various moral oppressions from another superpower, the Soviet Union, and felt pressure on civil rights issues such as workers and race.

Pressure will naturally change. In order to ease domestic conflicts, the federal government had to start to relax on civil rights issues. At that time, the federal Supreme Court took the lead in declaring racial segregation illegal in public education.

This naturally met with spontaneous resistance from these conservative states in the South, resulting in the National Guard blocking black students from entering schools.

At that time, President Eisenhower, who was a military man, naturally could not allow the localities to challenge the authority of the central government, and directly announced that he had taken over the command of the Arkansas National Guard. This behavior of the federal government taking over the local National Guard was called "federalization."

In fact, conflicts between the federal government and local states often occur. In Jack's previous life, Texas, which was also restless next to Arkansas, had been in constant friction with the federal government on immigration issues since the beginning of the new century, and finally sent out the National Guard to block the US-Mexico border.

That time, the federal government also threatened to "federalize" the Texas National Guard. Combined with a later movie called "Civil War", it was once hyped very enthusiastically until it was overshadowed by a series of big news from a country that inherited the spicy and crispy tradition.

Let's get back to the point. Although there are 75 counties in Arkansas, and St. Francis County where Forrest is located has a population of only tens of thousands, the entire district attorney's office was wiped out by someone. This kind of thing is indeed a big deal. No wonder the local sheriff's office directly asked the FBI for help.

Jubal continued to press the remote control, playing the blurry photos of the scene from beginning to end, and then looked at everyone, "The shooting took place outside a billiard bar. The owner said that the three victims left at about 3 o'clock in the morning when the bar was about to close.

Not long after, he heard the gunshots outside. There were no witnesses at the scene, but I heard that a surveillance camera captured the scene. The video has not been sent yet, so we may need to go there in person to deal with it."

Although the photo is a bit blurry, it can still be seen that all three victims were shot several times. It can be said that they were almost beaten into sieves. It is a typical act of revenge.

"It doesn't look like a professional. It's a bit too rough." Clay shrugged and expressed his opinion from a professional perspective.

Aubrey analyzed from a psychological perspective, "Full of anger, not a random killing, the target is clear, just going for these three lawyers."

Alice directly retrieved the files of the three dead in the system, two men and one woman, all white, and all looked very young, "Katherine Sloan, 26 years old, Pete Hill, 29 years old, Johnny Mo, 28 years old."

Jie Jie asked, "So, the only survivor is the district attorney himself? Check his information."

"Skip Hardy, 52 years old." Alice retrieved a photo of a black man on the screen.

"It's interesting that in this conservative southern state where whites account for more than 70%, the district attorney is actually a black man." Jack said what everyone was thinking.

"Although it is indeed a stronghold of the Elephant Party, the times are not as bad as they used to be. The Donkey Party also has considerable influence in Arkansas today. Don't forget that a famous presidential couple came from there."

Jubal was talking about the Zipperton couple. Although Arkansas does not have much presence in the United States, it has produced two famous figures in history.

One is the five-star general McHather (a joke) who particularly likes to comment on various things on the Chinese Internet in Jack's previous life. The other is Jack's idol in some aspects, President Zipperton.

Coincidentally, the governor of Arkansas who triggered the "Little Rock Incident" was also a Donald Trump Party. At that time, the Donald Trump Party (Democratic Party) and the Elephant Party (Republican Party) were exactly the opposite of today. The Donald Trump Party was conservative, while the Elephant Party was radical.

Today, the members of the Wanted Criminals Team are getting closer and closer, more and more like a family. They have fewer concerns when talking behind closed doors, and occasionally talking about politics is harmless.

The business jet prepared by the FBI New York Office for the Wanted Criminals Team is a Cessna CJ2, which is nearly half the size of the Gulfstream G650 of the BAU, and focuses on cost-effectiveness.

Although it is a bit shabby, it is still a chartered plane anyway, which has also strengthened the determination of the team members to work hard. After all, it is not easy to fit 7 people in such a small plane, and there is no need to think about setting up a mahjong table.

Jubal got off the plane, twisted his aching waist with difficulty, and began to call out his troops, "Jiejie and I will visit the surviving prosecutor Skip Hardy, and everyone else will go to the scene to look for any possible clues.

Carefully investigate witnesses, surveillance videos, and the background of the victim. We are not sure whether the murderer will continue his killing, so be careful."

Jack also reminded in return, "If you rule out the suspicion of prosecutor Skip Hardy, you should also ask him to pay attention to his security. He may be the next target."

"I will suggest that he stay in the court as much as possible." Jubal nodded to show that he understood.

Then everyone went their separate ways. The FBI Little Rock Office sent three official vehicles, an old GMC pickup truck and two GMC "Business Star" SUVs that were also a bit old.

Jack and Clay loaded all the equipment they brought into the pickup truck, and drove the pickup truck and a "Business Star" to the billiard bar where the accident happened.