Mercutio Southall, a key organizer of the ongoing Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in Homewood, has been arrested on arson and criminal mischief charges related to last month’s fire at the Homewood Walmart.

The fire was started just hours after BLM protesters were once again arrested for disorderly conduct for blocking traffic while demanding the public release of bodycam footage and the name of the officer involved in the shooting of Jabari Peoples.

Peoples’ family and their attorneys have already viewed the footage. The Alabama State Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that bodycam footage is not subject to public records requests.

Prosecutors deemed the shooting justified after confirming video evidence showed Peoples resisted arrest and retrieved a firearm that he was holding at the time o

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