Ashton Pittman

Hattiesburg

News Editor at Mississippi Free Press

News Editor @MSFreePress • Tips: [email protected] • Since this site is now run by a state-aligned fascist, I have left X for bluer skies.

Articles

Thousands Protest Trump Across Mississippi: ‘No Kings’

1 week ago | mississippifreepress.org | Ashton Pittman |Nick Judin

HATTIESBURG, Miss., and JACKSON, Miss.—Thousands of Mississippians across seven cities took to the streets to demonstrate against the Trump administration over the weekend, citing the president’s actions on immigration and his wielding of executive power. Statewide, between about 3,500 and 4,300 people turned out, based on estimates the Mississippi Free Press received from organizers and observers.
Photos: No Kings Day Protests in Hattiesburg, Mississippi

1 week ago | mississippifreepress.org | Ashton Pittman

Hundreds of residents of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, showed up to speak up against the Trump administration and its policies on immigration, public health, executive power and more as part of the nationwide No Kings Day protests on Saturday, June 14, 2025. Here are some of the photos from the day. Many of the protesters in downtown Hattiesburg during the No Kings Day protests on June 14, 2025, spoke out against the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
Jackson City Councilman Ashby Foote Wins Reelection by 8 Votes

2 weeks ago | mississippifreepress.org | Shaunicy Muhammad |Ashton Pittman

JACKSON, Miss.—Jackson City Councilman Ashby Foote has won reelection by fewer than 10 votes after election officials finished counting absentee and affidavit ballots late Wednesday morning, more than a week after the June 3 municipal elections. Shortly after learning he had won around 11 a.m., the Republican-turned-independent councilman said he looks forward to working with Democratic Mayor-elect John Horhn, who is replacing outgoing Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba.
Trump Deploys National Guard Troops to Los Angeles

2 weeks ago | mississippifreepress.org | Rebecca Boone |Ashton Pittman

President Donald Trump, who sat by watching TV without taking action for hours when his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in 2021, has deployed at least 300 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles to respond to mostly peaceful immigration protests. He did so over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Trump initially said he was deploying 2,000 troops. It’s not the first time Trump has activated the National Guard to quell protests.
Trump Approves Disaster Assistance for Mississippi Tornadoes

1 month ago | mississippifreepress.org | Ashton Pittman

President Donald Trump has approved disaster assistance to Mississippi counties affected by tornadoes that struck that state in mid-March. The monthslong wait had cast doubt over whether Mississippi would be approved, as Trump has publicly argued for less federal support for disasters while calling for states to pick up more of the cost. The governor’s statement on the declaration is below: “Thank you, President Donald J.
Medicaid and SNAP Cuts, Trans Care Ban

1 month ago | mississippifreepress.org | Kevin Freking |Lisa Mascaro |Ashton Pittman

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans early Thursday took a major step forward on President Donald Trump’s agenda, approving a legislative package that combines tax breaks, spending cuts, border security funding, prohibitions on care for transgender people and other priorities. House committees labored for months on the bill, which underwent late changes to win over holdouts in the Republican conference. It exceeds 1,000 pages and is titled the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a nod to Trump himself.
Mississippi Holiday Honors Those Who Died Defending Slavery

2 months ago | mississippifreepress.org | Ashton Pittman

State offices in Mississippi are closed today to commemorate the men who died fighting the United States government to protect the institution of human slavery. Confederate Memorial Day is a state holiday observed in several southern states. As in years past, the majority-white, Republican-led Mississippi Legislature once again allowed a Black Democrat’s bill to get rid of Confederate Memorial Day to die without a vote. That lawmaker, Sen.
Horhn Defeats Lumumba in Democratic Primary for Jackson Mayor

2 months ago | mississippifreepress.org | Shaunicy Muhammad |Ashton Pittman

JACKSON, Miss.—John Horhn, a longtime Mississippi senator, is the Democratic nominee to be the next mayor of Jackson. Horhn defeated the incumbent, Chokwe A. Lumumba, in a landslide victory on Tuesday night following a primary runoff. As of 9:20 p.m., with 79 of 80 precincts reporting, Horhn had 17,729 votes to Lumumba’s 5,940—a lead of about 75% to 25%.
Mississippi Governor Declares April Confederate Heritage Month

2 months ago | mississippifreepress.org | Ashton Pittman

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has declared April 2025 as Confederate Heritage Month in Mississippi, keeping alive a 32-year-old tradition that began in 1993. A member of the Rankin Greys, a Sons of Confederate Veterans camp based in Florence, Mississippi, announced the proclamation in a post in the organization’s Facebook group on April 18. The SCV annually asks governors to issue the Confederate Heritage Month proclamations.
If They Can Be Disappeared, You Can, Too

2 months ago | mississippifreepress.org | Ashton Pittman

Philip Holsinger, a photojournalist from Nashville, Tenn., watched as a young man wept while a guard pushed him to the floor at CECOT, the El Salvadoran prison notorious for human-rights abuses. “I’m not a gang member. I’m gay. I’m a barber,” said the man, who Holsinger would later write “didn’t look like what I had expected” because “he wasn’t a tattooed monster.” The man was Andry Hernandez Romero, a Venezuelan man who had come to the United States in 2024 in search of asylum.