Representative Jasmine Crockett (D-TX-30) claimed in a 2020 interview that she and other black students were the victim to multiple hate crimes in 2002, when she was attending Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee.
Crockett told Darling Society in September 2020 that she was “the victim of a series of hate crimes” at Rhodes College that required the university to enlist the help of The Cochran Firm, a Memphis-based law firm made famous by its founder, Johnnie Cochran Jr., who secured a not guilty verdict in the O.J. Simpson murder trial often dubbed the “Trial of the Century.”
“In my junior year, I became the victim of a series of hate crimes, myself along with a handful of other Black students,” claimed Crockett in 2020. She continued, “My school didn’t know what to do, and they brought in The Cochran Firm, and the lawyer that helped me became my instant ‘shero.’”
In July 2021, Crockett provided additional details of the alleged hate crimes to ABC 7, with the outlet reporting, “[s]he recalled needing an advocate when someone left racist hate mail in her campus mailbox and when her Black friends had their cars keyed on campus.”
That outlet did not reference The Cochran Firm, and Crockett told ABC 7 the incident led her “to be that shero who could assist people at a very confusing and difficult time.”
Crockett appears to have attended Rhodes College from approximately 1999 to 2003. She claims the alleged hate crimes inspired her to become an attorney.
The Tennessee Star contacted Rhodes College to seek details about the alleged hate crimes, including whether police reports were filed and to confirm whether The Cochran Firm was retained, but did not receive a response prior to press time.
An additional press inquiry by The Star to The Cochran Firm similarly did not receive an immediate response. The Star sought confirmation the firm represented the college and information about the female attorney identified by Crockett as her “shero” in addition to details about the alleged crimes.
While The Star could not locate contemporary reports of the alleged hate crimes that reportedly occurred in or around 2002, Rhodes College political scientist Marcus Pohlmann told CBS News in 2007 that Memphis was “not as polarized” by race “as it used to be,” though claimed the city had room for more progress.
Neither Pohlmann nor CBS referenced the hate crime allegations that Crockett claims occurred at Rhodes College, and required The Cochran Firm to intervene, just years prior.
The Fall 2003 issue of Rhodes Magazine likewise makes no mention of Crockett, the alleged hate crimes or The Cochran Firm.
A timeline of the school’s history also lists 2002 as the year Mother Jones Magazine named Rhodes College “one of the top-10 activist colleges” in the United States.
In fact, Rhodes College appears to have steered clear of racial controversy for decades, with the possible exception of one incident in September 2021, when a banana was reportedly found taped to the door of a dorm room shared by two black students.
Crockett became the subject of national headlines on Thursday following her profane argument with Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14).
The Democratic lawmaker has since described Greene as a “hit dog” and revealed she proudly used the argument as an “opportunity to again flex on MAGA” in the U.S. House.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Rep. Jasmine Crockett” by Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. Background Photo “Rhodes College Campus” by Rhodes College.
