\n<\/p>\n
Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer\/Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n NFL star and<\/span> noted activist Colin Kaepernick is paying for an independent second autopsy for a Mississippi college student who was found hanging from a tree.<\/p>\n Demartravion \u201cTrey\u201d Reed, 21, was a student at Delta State University whose body was found on campus a week ago. The state\u2019s medical examiner ruled it a suicide, but the manner in which he died has sparked suspicion amid heighened racial tension across the country.<\/p>\n \u201cTrey\u2019s death evoked the collective memory of a community that has suffered a historic wound over many, many years and many, many deaths,\u201d Attorney Benjamin Crump, who\u2019s representing the family, wrote in a statement<\/a>. \u201cPeace will come only by getting to the truth. We thank Colin Kaepernick for supporting this grieving family and the cause of justice and truth.\u201d<\/p>\n Immediately after reports of Reed\u2019s death circulated, civil rights activists pushed for a thorough investigation, citing Mississippi\u2019s long and bloody history<\/a> of lynchings, including the brutal<\/a> death of Emmett Till in 1955.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, the Mississippi state examiner conducted<\/a> an autopsy that ruled out foul play in Reed\u2019s death. The Cleveland City Police Department has reportedly handed their findings<\/a> over the FBI, which said<\/a> they\u2019re willing to investigate further if evidence \u201cif, during the course of the local investigation, information comes to light of a potential federal violation.\u201d<\/p>\n On Friday, Crump announced<\/a> that Kaepernick, a vocal advocate against police brutality and racial injustice, will be paying for an independent autopsy on Reed\u2019s body as soon as it\u2019s released from the state medical examiner. The money will be coming from Kaepernick\u2019s Know Your Rights Camp\u2019s Autopsy Initiative, which provides<\/a> free, second autopsies for those whose loved ones have died in police custody or under other suspicious circumstances.<\/p>\n Other than the second autopsy, the family has also demanded that law enforcement release all video related to Reed\u2019s death. On Wednesday, Delta State Director of Public Safety confirmed<\/a> that there was security footage that they\u2019re investigating, but did not comment on whether or not it showed Reed before his death.<\/p>\n \u201cTrey\u2019s family deserves answers they can trust,\u201d Crump wrote<\/a> in statement. \u201cWe cannot accept rushed conclusions when the stakes are this high.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n