Why a Mississippi Councilman Suggests Throwing Rocks at Police Cars

Jackson, Mississippi, city council member Kenneth Stokes has issued an eyebrow-raising call for a rebellion against certain police. It has earned rebukes from the state governor, the city’s mayor, a gang of county sheriffs, and even Stokes’ own fellow council members. In an interview about police from neighboring counties ripping through Jackson while chasing crime suspects, Stokes told a local TV news reporter, “as these jurisdictions come into Jackson, we throw rocks and bricks and bottles at them. That’ll send a message we don’t want you in here.”

The point he was making was that police chases often cause a lot of damage, and sometimes injuries and death, especially at high speeds. One such chase happened on Christmas Eve in Stokes’ district, which he said led to complaints from residents worried about police zipping through from outside the city. Stokes said there was a history of these kinds of Dukes of Hazzard, county/city-line crossing police chases, and he wants the U.S. Department of Justice to come investigate the problem.