By Police1 Staff
PEARL, Miss. — Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey had a few choice words for the councilman who suggested people “throw rocks, bricks and bottles” at cops, WLBT reported.
Councilman Kenneth Stokes spoke last Thursday to reporters about a police pursuit that ended in his neighborhood and made a controversial comment.
“What I suggest, we get the black leadership together, and as these jurisdictions come into Jackson, we throw rocks, bricks and bottles at them. That will send a message we don’t want you in here,” Stokes said during a news conference.
Bailey called Stokes’ comments “highly inappropriate.”
“A wise man once told me, ‘You can’t fight jealousy or ignorance,’ and the statements that Mr. Stokes has made are complete ignorance,” Bailey told the news site.
Bailey met with other law enforcement officials about the issue.
“If any other elected official in Rankin County or anywhere else would have made the statements that he made, and changed the colors that he used, I think that we’d be on national news right now,” Bailey told WLBT. “Actually, Councilman Stokes is the one inciting racism and violence against police officers.”
Several other officials released statements on Facebook proclaiming their worry of the safety of cops following the councilman’s comment.
“To me, he’s inciting some innocent young person who’s doesn’t understand the law is gonna get hurt over it because of him, because I fully expect my deputies to defend themselves,” Bailey said during his interview.