Kenneth Stokes, a councilman in Jackson, Miss., told local news Thursday that black leadership should gather together and attack police who enter Jackson’s city limits.
“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. That will send a message we don’t want you in here,” Stokes told WLBT-3 News.
Stokes takes issue with police from surrounding cities chasing misdemeanor felons into Jackson, believing they put children in danger while speeding through neighborhood streets.
According to the video below, Stokes disagrees with police who “endanger” Jackson residents by “chasing down young men who steal bubble gum.”
He believes the law allowing police from outside jurisdictions taking into custody criminals who enter other jurisdictions should be changed, and that Jackson should take legal action against police agencies who chase misdemeanor criminals into other jurisdictions.
In March 2014, another odd statement from Stokes landed him in controversy within Jackson. The councilman, who represents the city’s poorest ward, called a press conference to state his belief that the mayor of Jackson, who died several days earlier of cancer, had been murdered.
“I believe that someone killed him. Now I can’t prove it, but I’m going to say it,” Stokes told The Clarion-Ledger. “That’s how I feel in my heart, and a lot of other people feel he was killed.”
According to The Clarion-Ledger, Stokes is known for unorthodox statements.