Matt PichtJackson, Mississippi, councilman Kenneth Stokes is being heavily criticized after suggesting residents should respond to police incursions from other districts with violence.
"As these jurisdictions come into Jackson, we throw rocks and bricks and bottles. That'll send a message that we don't want you in here," Stokes told WLBT.
Stokes was voicing his opposition to high-speed police chases from other counties ending in Jackson neighborhoods, which he says put Jackson residents at risk. The specific chase that sparked Stokes' comments involved a shoplifting and misdemeanor assault suspect in the neighboring county of Richland.
Unsurprisingly, local authorities haven't reacted positively to Stokes' comments.
"Councilman Stokes is the one inciting racism and violence against police officers," Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey told reporters.
Gov. Phil Bryant said in a statement he plans to ask Mississippi's attorney general if Stokes' comments constitute a criminal threat against law enforcement.
