A Mississippi councilman is in hot water after he called for people to throw things at police cars involved in high-speed chases in their neighborhoods.
Third Ward Councilman Kenneth Stokes said that his call to “throw rocks and bricks and bottles” was meant as a call to attention concerning the high-speed chases in Jackson, Mississippi, and the racist nature of police actions.
“Race. Race is a factor, and the blatant disregard for the public safety of innocent children and elderly citizens in unlawful chases by outside jurisdictions, in the inner city of Jackson neighborhoods,” Stokes said, according to The Clarion-Ledger.
Stokes pointed to an incident on Christmas Eve where police chased a shoplifter ten miles through Stokes’ ward. He said that the incident highlighted the fact that police often respond to small-time crimes disproportionately and that such high-speed chases would not usually take place in white neighborhoods.
While the response to Stokes’ words has been overwhelmingly negative, he did find a surprising ally in Lee Vance, Jackson’s chief of police, who disagreed with the violent tone of Stokes’ call to throw things at police but agreed that high-speed chases were a concern in the area.
“High-speed chases coming into the city of Jackson, by outside agencies, pursuing misdemeanor suspects, is an unnecessary risk,” Vance said. “I prefer that those chases not be conducted inside the city limits of Jackson.”