Is a black Mississippi councilman 'racist' for calling police officers 'thugs with badges'?

Frustrated by high-speed police chases entering Jackson from other jurisdictions, city councilman Kenneth Stokes recently offered a controversial solution: If residents see police from outside the city pursuing criminals in their neighborhoods, he said, they should retaliate.

"What I suggest is we get the black leadership together, and as these jurisdictions come into Jackson we throw rocks and bricks and bottles at them," Stokes, who is black, told Mississippi News Now last Thursday. "That will send a message we don't want you in here."

He repeated these sentiments in an interview with The Clarion-Ledger the following day, remarking: "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 councilman's statements followed a Christmas Eve chase involving police officers from neighboring Ridgeland who entered Jackson. They were pursuing a Walmart shoplifter who allegedly assaulted two people in the parking lot, according to WJTV.

Stokes said such criminals are guilty of misdemeanors, but they are "not murderers or bank robbers," and thus don't warrant car chases that may put other individuals, particularly children, in danger.

He was immediately met with rebuke from local law enforcement and other lawmakers, with the former accusing Stokes of "inciting racism and violence against police officers."

Meanwhile, Gov. Phil Bryant, R, announced plans to ask the state attorney general whether Stokes's remarks qualify as a punishable criminal threat against law enforcement.

"This is nothing short of an outright assault upon all who wear the badge." Bryant's statement said.

Stokes held a press conference Sunday in which, rather than backtracking, he reaffirmed his stance and volleyed new insults at police.

While Stokes iterated last week that he has "supported police officers in police departments all over this state," according to the Clarion-Ledger, this time around he repeatedly referred to cops as "thugs with badges" and called neighboring Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey a "dumb bastard."

"Race is a factor," Stokes said, noting that he believes chases into Jackson have increased because the city has a majority-black city council, a black mayor and a black police chief.

Sheriff Bailey agreed that racism is at play -- racism against police officers, that is.

"In my opinion, Kenneth Stokes represents everything that's wrong with Jackson and why it's going downhill," Bailey told the Clarion-Ledger. "His mentality -- he said this is racism? Yeah, it is racism, against every officer, every deputy, anybody else that bleeds blue."

Alongside the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement, the notion that police officers comprise their own "race" has been espoused by some members of law enforcement who feel increasingly under attack themselves.

The national Fraternal Order of Police has been lobbying to classify violence against law enforcement as a federal hate crime since 2009, when the definition of a hate crime was expanded to include acts motivated by someone's sexual orientation, disability, gender or gender identity.

The order's executive director, James Pasco, told U.S. News last year that he viewed attacks prompted by anti-police attitudes as no less connected to "color" than those inspired by race.

"We feel it's inappropriate to target people because of the color of their skin and it's inappropriate to target people because of the color of their uniform," Pasco said.

But councilman Stokes told the Clarion-Ledger that those police officers who participate in reckless chases aren't deserving of their uniforms.

"There is no question of my love and respect for police officers. ... I almost became a police officer," he said, "but somewhere down the line, we have to draw a line between officers who put human beings' safety in jeopardy versus using common sense. I don't consider these police officers. I consider them thugs."

In his statements on Sunday, Stokes referenced a chase involving the family of Hinds County Sheriff Tyrone Lewis. Eight years ago, Lewis's mother and cousin were driving in a vehicle that was struck by a car fleeing Jackson police, killing the cousin.

Instead of garnering Lewis's support, however, Stokes's mention of the tragedy drew ire.

"As it relates to race, the officer that was chasing the vehicle was not a white officer, he was a black officer," Lewis told the Clarion-Ledger. "I don't appreciate being pulled into this situation. As a law enforcement officer, I denounce his statement -- I think it's a slap in the face to law enforcement everywhere, and I think it puts law enforcement officers in danger everywhere."

This story was originally published January 5, 2016 at 2:48 PM with the headline "Is a black Mississippi councilman 'racist' for calling police officers 'thugs with badges'? ."