Councilman Kenneth Stokes advocates for residents of Jackson, Mississippi, to throw rocks and bottles at police officers, who are failing at their job. Mr. Stokes’ outrageous comments rapidly went viral, and many are asking Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant to investigate the councilman.
Councilman Kenneth Stokes, of Jackson, Mississippi, is so fed up with the ill-trained and ineffective police officers in his district that he is telling constituents to throw rocks, bottles, and other objects at them.
Stokes, who is known for making outrageous comments, (in 2014, he claimed that Mayor Chokwe Lumumba was murdered despite confirmation that he died of natural causes), is being bashed on social media with many asking Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant to take legal action against the councilman.
This week, in an interview with a local television station, Stokes was talking about a recent police chase, which had upset him. The chase went into Jackson from Richland, and it included police from surrounding jurisdictions pursuing an armed robbery suspect from Walmart. The man was accused of assaulting people in a Walmart parking lot after shoplifting, according to police.
Kenneth Stokes said that he found the chase unnecessary because the police officers were putting the lives of innocent residents in harm’s way. Stokes said:
“It was a misdemeanor. They could easily break off the chase, get the tag number. We’ll pay for whatever they stole to make sure that our babies are not harmed. We want the same respect that they give to their neighborhoods given to Jackson neighborhoods.”
He went on to suggest that residents should pitch bricks at the cops when they disagree with their actions or when they want to say “we don’t want you here.” The controversial councilman added:
“Let’s get rocks, let get bricks and let’s get bottles and start throwing them and then they won’t come in here anymore.”
Stokes later appeared on another network, and he made the weird suggestion again. He claimed:
“When you have these police officers coming from other jurisdictions and they will not respect human life, then I said we should use rocks, bricks or bottles to try to get the message over: stop endangering our children.”
The statements made by Councilman Stokes have political leaders frustrated and beyond angry. Bryan Bailey, the Sheriff of Rankin County, shared:
“Councilman Stokes is the one citing racism and violence against police officers which is totally unbelievable for an elected official.”
Michael Guest, the District Attorney for Madison and Rankin County, added:
“I believe it is ludicrous for an elected official to make those types of statement.”
The governor of Mississippi had the following to say about Stokes:
Below is my full statement regarding Jackson city councilman Kenneth Stokes’ remarks about law enforcement officers. “…
Posted by Phil Bryant on Friday, January 1, 2016
Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber also distanced himself from Stokes’ insane idea with a tweet that read:
While there is a need to demand respect of jurisdictional boundaries, I could never condone violence against officers.
— Tony Yarber (@TonyYarber) January 1, 2016
Via social media, one person said that Stokes should be fired:
“Councilman Kenneth Stokes Stokes is a joke! And a jerk and he needs to be fired as soon as possible, he is making black people like me look bad. As an educated black man with many diplomas, I don’t believe in using violence (rock, bottles) to resolve a matter. “
Another wrote:
“Stokes is a racist man who supports Obama, the the thugs causing the riots should be stoned, not the officers doing their jobs”
Moreover, a third person called him a racist in a message, which says:
“Stokes is a real role model, the Councilman reminds me of typical race baiting liberals like Obama. Scream racism and hope there is some cash to be had in playing victim. he might need police protection soon, get him out a office, we need a special election next month.”
What are your thoughts on Councilman Kenneth Stokes’ statement?
