Enraged local sheriffs are lashing out at a
Jackson, Mississippi councilman who said Sunday that residents should throw "rocks, bricks or bottles" at police from outlying areas who chase low-level criminal suspects into the overwhelmingly black city.
Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey dared Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes to back up his words with action, the
Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports.
"I challenge him to cross this river, and I'll drive my own car over there and let him throw a rock at me," Bailey said. "I'll have him picking up trash for years."
Defending the pursuit of those suspected of committing crimes in his county into the
70-percent-black Jackson city limits, Rankin said "the citizens of Rankin County elected me to keep them safe and that's what I intend to do," the Clarion-Ledger reports.
"They started this, we didn't. They came over here and committed a crime," he continued.
"In my opinion, Kenneth Stokes represents everything that's wrong with Jackson and why it's going downhill. His mentality — he said this is racism? Yeah, it is racism, against every officer, every deputy, anybody else that bleeds blue."
Madison County Sheriff Randy Tucker held a press conference Sunday night to express his anger over Stokes' comments, the Clarion-Ledger reports.
"I can promise you if he thinks I'm going to run from him, he's tackled the wrong one," Tucker said. "If I can find a criminal charge for what he's done, I'm going to see him put in jail."
Stokes responded harshly to Sheriff Bailey's remarks, telling
WAPT-TV that only a handful of law enforcement officials had criticized him.
"How many sheriffs are you talking about? Three sheriffs? Out of 80, something? That's not even a percentage," Stokes said. "Now the first thing I'll say, [about] the sheriff in Rankin County, is that he (is) a dumb bastard."
WAPT reports black Jackson Police Chief Lee Vance agreed with Stokes' call for an end to high-speed chases by outside police agencies into the city.
"I also do not agree with high speed vehicle pursuits conducted by outside agencies into the city of Jackson," Vance said in a statement. "It is my belief that any high-speed chase has the potential to destroy property and place the lives and safety of innocent citizens at an unnecessary risk during attempts to capture misdemeanor suspects."
WAPT reports a
Facebook page has been created calling for Stokes' removal as city councilman.
The page, titled "Remove Kenneth Stokes," states that "Kenneth Stokes is a disgrace, an embarrassment, an uneducated race baiter, and has openly called for violence against law enforcement around Jackson, MS."
As of early Monday evening, it had over 10,000 likes.
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