Speaking at the National Urban League’s annual conference in Nashville, civil rights leaders Ben Crump and Rev. Al Sharpton forcefully dismissed Dr. Ben Hudson’s claims of political manipulation and defamation. Crump stated that threats of lawsuits are merely a distraction from finding the truth about Nolan Wells’ death, while Sharpton denied even knowing Warren Hudson’s name prior to media inquiries and firmly rejected any connection between their justice campaign and upcoming midterm elections.

Sharpton defended the $125,000 community reward, calling the characterization of it as a “bounty” completely absurd, maintaining that their sole goal is to get answers for Nolan’s grieving parents.

It’s a distraction, we’re not distracted by it at all… We haven’t done anything other than ask questions to get to the truth