Daniel McMullen, the first black special agent in charge of Jackson’s FBI office, has announced his retirement.
“As a person with an interest in history itself and the history of the civil rights movement and an understanding of where Mississippi was in the history of civil rights, I find it very interesting now that I am where I am,” he said recently, according to the Clarion-Ledger.
The Jackson field office, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in July, was reestablished following the deaths of civil rights workers James Earl Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner.
“From being a student of history, reading about these historical figures, and then to meet them,” McMullen said. “Charles and Myrlie Evers, Gov. William Winter, James Meredith. Some of the Freedom Riders I’ve met — there are so many folks that lived it, and to hear what the world was like back then, and the multiple narratives about the role of the FBI. Where you stand on the issues definitely depends on where you sit.”
But McMullen, who also worked in New York, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, went far beyond civil rights issues. One case involved the kidnapping of Alexandria and Kyliyah Bain in 2012 and tracking down the man responsible – Adam Mayes.
“He was one of our top 10 fugitives,” McMullen said. “That provided a tremendous example of how law enforcement can cooperate in response to a critical incident.”
Correction: In an earlier version, Daniel McMullen’s name was spelled incorrectly.
