You might have missed this over the holiday weekend, but a black teen named Nolan Wells was found dead in Mississippi "under mysterious circumstances" after a Fourth of July boating trip. All of Wells' friends on the boat were white, and they all made it back alive. This, of course, has brought out the Wells family attorney, Benjamin Crump, and Al Sharpton.
More than 100 protesters gathered Saturday to demand answers in the death of Nolan Wells, the Mississippi teen who died under mysterious circumstances after a July Fourth boating trip.
— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 13, 2026
An investigation is underway into the 18-year-old’s death. https://t.co/hPvOCYebFr
NBC News reports that protesters (protesting what?) gathered on Saturday.
CNN reported:
In the days since the puzzling death of an 18-year-old, investigators have undertaken a painstaking effort to reconstruct the events that unfolded on Horn Island, a remote barrier island about 10 miles off the Mississippi coast.
The investigation has unfolded rapidly since Nolan Wells disappeared on the Fourth of July from the island he was visiting with high school friends. While those friends returned to the mainland, Wells’ body was found days later in the water.
…
As public interest escalates, investigators are working to piece together Wells’ final hours while his family continues to press for transparency and answers. The young man’s death has stoked speculation and distrust in part due to Mississippi’s fraught racial history and the fact that Wells appeared to be the only person of color in an image with friends on the trip.
ABC News gave us the very helpful report that a viral video did not depict an argument between Wells and another man:
A viral video depicting a Fourth of July party at a barrier island off the coast of Mississippi does not depict an argument involving Nolan Wells, a childhood friend of the late teen said to @ABC News Sunday in a broadcast exclusive.
— ABC News (@ABC) July 13, 2026
Read more: https://t.co/kWPPZLFX57 pic.twitter.com/pD7yyNoFrZ
I searched for autopsy reports, but apparently none have been released yet.
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The story has been picked up on by TMZ, which reported that family attorney Crump — what a shock that he'd show up — is following every lead in the teen's death.
Nolan Wells' attorney says new photo possibly shows teen made it back to the mainland.
— TMZ (@TMZ) July 13, 2026
Take a look: https://t.co/RE7LrWuNBI pic.twitter.com/56coze6a37
Ben Crump, the attorney for Nolan Wells' family, is following every lead in the teen's tragic death ... including a photo that suggests he may have made it back to the Mississippi mainland before he died.
…
As you know, Nolan disappeared on a July 4 trip with friends to Horn Island ... after his friends made it home, but he didn't. His body was eventually found in the water off Horn Island.
His family hired Crump and is conducting an independent investigation because they believe something isn't adding up.
Sharpton, obviously, had to insert himself:
“He was one Black with three young White men who happened to end up with his phone, happened to end up with his keys,” the Rev. Al Sharpton said Friday on the death of Nolan Xavier Wells. “There’s just too many questions that they should not be closing the investigation."
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 10, 2026
Wells,… pic.twitter.com/6jsC2DNrNL
The post continues:
… 18, was found dead after spending the Fourth of July celebrating with friends on Mississippi's Horn Island. The family is demanding answers.
"He was one black with three white men" … case closed.
Do not make this a race issue. They were all friends, you see it from the photos. Let the investigators do their job and see how it unfolds. My heart hurts for the parents, but why hire Ben Crump so quickly?
— Spinsnob (@spinsnob) July 10, 2026
Journalistic malpractice to not mention race hustler Al Sharpton is spewing lies. Investigation is not closed.
— therman (@ThermanMurch) July 12, 2026
The death is tragic. The response is disappointing but not surprising. Crump simultaneously posting saying convicted murderer Karmelo Anthony is innocent. Pathetic.
He allegedly didn’t have his phone and his keys? Let’s use some common sense here.. because he was getting in and out of the WATER retard. People don’t walk around with their phones and keys at horn. They leave them on the BOAT or if you have a tent set up on the island.
— RedwaveDawg (@RedwaveDawg) July 10, 2026
It's almost like those are things that would be safer in the boat rather than in your pocket while swimming.
— White Ryan Clark (@BaitMaster412) July 10, 2026
Have local authorities closed the investigation or given any indication they intend to do so any time soon?
— Carlos Whitebody (@SarcasmISwit) July 10, 2026
Why do they need to investigate it? Karmelo Anthony was literally found guilty by a jury of his peers, and the black community STILL defended him. Apparently, investigations don’t matter in that community. So why do it?
— Drew (@Dpabsjax19) July 10, 2026
The Jackson County Sheriff's department has clearly stated that the investigation remains active.
— James Brown (@JamesBrown00777) July 10, 2026
Has @CBSNews ever done any journalism regarding Al Sharpton? They will platform him but Lord knows they will never check him.
— sir hipcheck IV esq (@hipchecked) July 10, 2026
Look at every black person begging and praying for him to been murdered by his white friends
— Lettuce Hand (@AllenLHP) July 10, 2026
His friends were white, thus we should all be suspicious.
— Dronetek (@TheDronetek) July 12, 2026
The casual racism that's allowed to be normalized in this country is unacceptable.
Lol. This grifting fuck will step over a dozen dead black teenagers killed I'm Chicago over a long weekend to defame and accuse three random kids of murder.
— Weaponized Autism (@luongo_stephen) July 10, 2026
The investigation is ongoing
— 𝔻𝕦𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝔻𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕠𝕟 (@dutchdalton992) July 10, 2026
There will be multiple autopsies, including one on behalf of the family.
Police say the friends are fully cooperating
And so is Snapchat
There is no reason for Sharpton, or any other race hustler, to begin disparaging it yet.
There is an ongoing investigation, but Sharpton claims they're closing the investigation. The family has hired race-hustler Crump to perform an investigation. Protesters are demanding an investigation.
When Sharpton and Crump roll in, you know the circus is in town. It's a tragedy that this young man died. Let the authorities complete the investigation.
Meanwhile, CNN, CBS News, ABC News, NBC News, and TMZ are all over the case. What if one of the white friends had died?
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