Black Lives Matter Activist Charged In Birmingham Killing

BIRMINGHAM, AL - A shooting Tuesday night that left one man dead and a woman injured has resulted in the arrest of a prominent activist. Mercutio Southall, one of the initial leaders in the city’s Black Lives Matter movement, has been charged with manslaughter in the death of 54-year-old Arthur Douglas Hudson near the 6600 block of 1st Avenue South.

The incident occurred just after 11 p.m. Tuesday, when Birmingham PD officers were conducting a traffic stop and heard a commotion and then shots fired. Officers said a red Ford F-150 flew past them driving erratically and the came to a screeching halt. The driver - later identified as Southall - jumped out of the truck and ran behind a home.

Police heard a man - later identified as Hudson - yell that he had been shot and found him climbing over a fence to get away from the shooter. Officers tried to tend to his injuries - two gunshot wounds - but he was pronounced dead on the scene.

Southall, with a gun holstered on his side, was taken into custodyat the scene, according to a report by Alabama Media Group. Southall’s sister was taken by Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service to UAB Hospital for treatment for lacerations. It wasn’t immediately clear how she was injured.

Southall gained national notoriety in 2015 when he was roughed up at a Trump rally. Southall said he was called racial slurs and attacked by Trump supporters and staff.