Homicide and other crimes in Jackson, Mississippi were so out of control, that the state legislature felt the need to step in and aid the city’s law enforcement by expanding the jurisdiction of the Capitol Police to help fill the gap. But according to the anti-cop liberals of MSNBC’s Chris Jansing Reports on Thursday, it’s racist for the legislature to do this because it’s “majority-white” and the Capitol Police don’t answer to someone who “looks like us” (A.K.A wasn’t black).
“There's a looming showdown over race, justice, and policing that's playing out in Jackson, Mississippi right now,” anchor Chris Jansing warned. “The state legislature passed a law that some say amounts to a takeover of policing and courts in the state's capital city which is more than 80 percent black.”
Correspondent Trymaine Lee expanded on what Jansing said by suggesting the goal of “the Republican-led, majority-white legislature” was to steal power and control away from black people:
House Bill 1020 and Senate Bill 2343 will essentially create a new justice system within Jackson with its own unelected municipal court and expanded police force that the city has no control over. Some in Jackson, which is more than 80 percent black, says the move diverts power away from the voting citizens of Jackson, amounting to a state-led takeover of criminal justice in the city.
This was followed up with a soundbite of NAACP president and Jackson resident Derek Johnson claiming, “This is about vote dilution.” Lee boasted that “The civil rights group is suing the state to block the laws, claiming Jackson's residents have been targeted for a ‘separate and unequal policing and criminal justice system.’”
Lee would eventually admit Jackson was “experiencing a sharp rise in violence” and “Last year, 138 people were killed in Jackson, the highest per capita homicide rate in the nation…” But he still insisted the jurisdiction expansion was being done with racist intent.
According to one resident he spoke to, the problem was that the Capitol Police was run by a white man:
LEE: Bishop Dwayne Pickett agrees there is a need for more police just not like this.
DWAYNE PICKETT (bishop): They’re not answerable to the mayor, who looks like us. They’re not answerable to the structure inside of our community.
That white man was Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell. In an interview with MSNBC, Tindell explained that he wanted his police force to integrate with the Jackson community. “I want to be engaged with the public. I want our officers to be engaged with the public. And I want them to trust, A, that they’re going to do their job and they’re going to do it with good training,” he said.
But Lee highlighted a woman named Latasha Smith, who was hit by a stray bullet from Capitol Police who were chasing criminals who fled into her neighborhood in the middle of the night. She portrayed the cops as a roving gang just randomly shooting up peoples’ homes. “When it’s a black community, and all of these apartments are filled with people. What gave him the right to come in this community shooting?” she rhetorically asked Lee.
What Lee didn’t mention was that NBC had done a report looking at security camera footage (body camera footage has not been released yet), and had spoken to some experts who suggest the guy the cop was chasing was holding something in his hand when the cop discharged this weapon.
The MSNBC/NBC brands have a long history of being anti-police. In 2021, they deceptively edited a 911 call to remove references to an attacker wielding a knife. When cops arrived on the scene, they had to shoot a 16-year-old girl who was inches away from killing another girl. They did the same with the George Zimmerman 911 call in 2012.
MSNBC’s ridiculous take on policing in Jackson was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Dell and HughesNet. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below click "expand" to read:
MSNBC’s Chris Jansing Reports
April 27, 2023
2:55:30 p.m. EasternCHRIS JANSING: There's a looming showdown over race, justice, and policing that's playing out in Jackson, Mississippi right now. The state legislature passed a law that some say amounts to a takeover of policing and courts in the state's capital city which is more than 80 percent black. MSNBC’s Trymaine Lee traveled to Jackson and spoke to black residents who say their concerns are being ignored.
[Cuts to video]
TRYMAINE LEE: Last December, 49-year-old Latasha Smith says she was shot in the forearm when bullets fired from outside of her apartment crashed into her Jackson, Mississippi home.
LATASHA SMITH: The bullet caught me right here.
LEE: Officials say the shots were fired by a Mississippi Capitol Police officer who was chasing people after they fled a suspected stolen car.
This summer, Mississippi will expand the jurisdiction of its state-run police force from the downtown Capitol complex to all of Jackson, under two new controversial laws passed by the Republican-led, majority-white legislature.
House Bill 1020 and Senate Bill 2343 will essentially create a new justice system within Jackson with its own unelected municipal court and expanded police force that the city has no control over. Some in Jackson, which is more than 80 percent black, says the move diverts power away from the voting citizens of Jackson, amounting to a state-led takeover of criminal justice in the city.
DEREK JOHNSON (NAACP, president): This is about vote dilution.
LEE: NAACP president, Derek Johnson is a longtime Jackson resident
JOHNSON: It is not a solution for the state to step in without any true coordination, conversation, and use of the authority of the City of Jackson.
LEE: The civil rights group is suing the state to block the laws, claiming Jackson's residents have been targeted for a “separate and unequal policing and criminal justice system.”
GOV. TATE REEVES (R-MS): Law and order is critical.
LEE: Governor Tate Reeves denies any attempt of taking power away from Jackson, adding the laws are meant to improve safety and prosperity.
REEVES: I’ve lived in Jackson for almost a third of my life. And I want what’s best for Jackson.
LEE: The battle over public safety and criminal justice comes as the city is experiencing a sharp rise in violence. Last year, 138 people were killed in Jackson, the highest per capita homicide rate in the nation, according to Jackson police and FBI records.
Bishop Dwayne Pickett agrees there is a need for more police just not like this.
DWAYNE PICKETT (bishop): They’re not answerable to the mayor, who looks like us. They’re not answerable to the structure inside of our community.
Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell oversees the Capitol Police told us the agency is working to build trust in the community.
SEAN TINDELL (Dept. of Public Safety, commissioner): I want to be engaged with the public. I want our officers to be engaged with the public. And I want them to trust A that they’re going to do their job and they’re going to do it with good training.
In many states, a separate agency is called to investigate police shootings. But here, the same Public Safety officials who oversee the police are investigating the police, and the several officer-involved shootings that have occurred since they began expanding last summer.
Among them is the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Jalen Lewis during a traffic stop in September. Also under investigation, the shooting that injured Latasha Smith.
SMITH: When it’s a black community, and all of these apartments are filled with people. What gave him the right to come in this community shooting.
LEE: Responding to concerns we told we heard from Jackson residents, Commissioner Tindall said the department is working on being more transparent.
TINDELL: Once those investigations are complete, not only are the videos going to be made public, but the investigative files of the Mississippi of Bureau of Investigation will be made public.
LEE: Smith says she has more questions but she won't be in Jackson while she waits for answers.
SMITH: I went today after work looking for a house to move in to get out of Jackson, Mississippi because I refuse to stay anywhere Capitol Police will be involved.
[Cuts back to live]
LEE: When I asked Commissioner Tindell about the shooting of Latasha Smith, he said the investigation is ongoing and declined to comment further. In the meantime, Latasha Smith and her lawyers have filed a lawsuit against the Capitol Police department and its commanders, accusing them of acting recklessly and using excessive, unreasonable force against her.
