A Controversy is Brewing in Jackson Ms: City Councilman Ken Stokes Invites Cop Killer to Speak

WLBT 3 ^ | 01/28/05 | By J.P. Hervis

[WKB]

A Controversy is Brewing in Jackson A Controversy is Brewing in Jackson

He was convicted in the death of a Jackson police officer nearly 25 years ago. Next week he will speak inside city hall. Imari Obadele was invited by Councilman Kenneth Stokes to speak at a black history program Tuesday, and his appearance is causing quite a stir.

The scene was chaotic on Lewis Street in August of 1971 hours after Jackson police officer William Louis Skinner was gunned down during a house raid on Lewis Street .

“I heard the shooting. I was there when skinner got shot," said former JPD chief Jim Black.

The 32-year veteran of the Jackson Police Department was in the hospital when Skinner died.

"It was very emotional for all the police officer that were there," Black said.

Police and FBI agents were serving an arrest warrant. Inside were members of the Republic of New Afrika , a separatist militant group. Twenty-six-year JPD vet Jimmy King was nearby.

"It was quiet all of a sudden; sounded like a small war going on," said King.

"You just didn't lose an officer like that. It was very traumatic," Black stated.

In 1972, RNA president Imari Obadele along with several others was found guilty in the killing of Skinner. He served nearly six years. On February 1, 2005, Obadele will stand inside Jackson City Hall in front of an audience to talk about the RNA eleven.

"I think it's an abomination a slam on the good black people of Jackson and the good white people of Jackson," expressed Black.

The speech is part of a black history program. His host is city Councilman Kenneth Stokes.

"To me this would be like promoting Byron De La Beckwith. It's just a travesty," stated King.

The police training facility in Jackson is named after William Louis Skinner, remembering and honoring his service. But his colleagues say the invitation by a Jackson city councilman of Obadele will have the opposite affect.

Black says, "He is absolutely showing no respect for the man and woman who have given their lives in the line of duty."

Inside the training facility, Skinner's picture sits in between others who paid the ultimate price. Above is a sign saying lest we forget. Skinner's colleagues haven't forgotten, and their memories fuel emotional disappointment. An assistant to Councilman Stokes told WLBT he was out of state. When we offered to do a phone interview, she contacted him and Stokes declined. Just before 6:00 p.m. WLBT received a statement from Skinner's son justice court judge bill skinner. He says quote: "For more than 33 years my family and I suffered the loss of my father. This is not a black and white issue; it is a right and wrong issue. The fact that the city would celebrate a convicted felon who murdered my father tells me this is not the best of the new south."

City officials say this not a city-sponsored event. Councilmen have the right to invite speakers into city hall. Mayor Harvey Johnson released a statement saying he learned Friday about the event.

"The mayor's office has not been and will not be involved in the planning and implementation of this event," he said.

[dixiechick2000]

"man, I can't wait until Yudan discovers this thread."


Ya' think if we ping him one more time,
he'll grace us with his presence? ;o)

YoooooHooooo...YUDAN!
Where are you???

[dixiechick2000]

I like your style. ;o)

[Yudan]

Amazing. Well, not really {that's the sad thing about this}

Okay, folks...

My dad was a friend of Louis Skinner's. For the record, his name was William Louis Skinner, and the JPD Training Center is indeed named after him.

I went to Raines Elementary School in Jackson with his son, Ron - as well as Chris McMillin, the oldest son of Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm "Mac" McMillin. I'd be interested to hear what Mac REALLY thought of this. He wouldn't say it in public, he's too much of a politically correct democrat for that.

I could care less what that mouth-breather Jim Black has to say. He is a flaming moron. Always has been.

It's a travesty, a sham, and a mockery of any and all things decent, moral, and upright that this trash is breathing our air, let alone speaking at City Hall.

In other words, it's typical Jackson - and a prime reason that I always tell people "Jackson is a nice place to be FROM."

It's also a typical example of where democrats pull their heros from. And sadly, a prime example of how black race-baiter politicians fire up their "base" of ignorace to remain in power. That, in and of itself, is an indictment of the public school system.

Wardaddy, dadd'y not spinning in his grave over this. He's rolling his eyes and yawning.

[WKB]

Here is a bit of info to show much how things have "improved in Jackson"

City's murder rate 5 times U.S. average
Jabari Crockett, an 18-year-old college baseball player.

Melcenia Bell, a 93-year-old former foster parent.

And John Ferguson, a 14-year-old middle school student.

They were three of Jackson's homicide victims in 2004.

In all, 57 people died in Jackson last year — by someone's hands. Police consider five of those deaths justifiable homicides.

The number of criminal homicides — 52 — were the most in the city since 1998, when 60 people were killed. In 2003, 45 people died in criminal homicides.

Jackson's jump in homicides goes against the national trend for similar-sized cities, where murders dropped 7.7 percent, according to the FBI's preliminary 2004 statistics. Jackson's murder rate, 27.81 per 100,000, is more than five times higher than the national average, records show. The city has 184,256 residents, according to the 2000 Census.

Given the increase, Jackson Police Chief Robert Moore said he expected to see public outrage, though major crime in the city had dropped 21 percent. None came.

"There is no outcry because of where they occurred," Moore said. "Fifty-two people went to their graves, but people aren't up in arms because of who they are and where they were killed."

An analysis by The Clarion-Ledger shows at least half of the victims had prior criminal records. Seventy percent of the homicides, or 37, occurred in low-income areas that surround downtown.




"He was in the living room at the time they started shooting," said DeWitt Weston, 55, of Jackson, looking out the bullet-marred bedroom window of his nephew, 17-year-old David Weston. The shots were fired April 15. The next day, David Weston was fatally shot on Jennings Street.


Forty-two victims were black, nine were white and one was an East Indian man.

"Once you are associated with drugs and violence, the community people do not really sympathize with you as a victim, even in a homicide," said Jimmy Bell, a Jackson State University criminologist. "There is an apathy in this community because people have been desensitized by violence. With three TV stations and the newspaper playing up killings, people expect it to happen and don't see much hope for changing things."

Most victims were gunned down. Some were stabbed. Some were beaten.

The year continued a trend that has seen young people involved in homicides. The average age of those arrested in homicides last year was 24. The average victim's age was 33.

"The number of people being killed is tremendously high for a city the size of Jackson," said Joe Lauderdale, a Jackson resident and board member of the court watchdog SafeCity Initiative. "But I think people here have gotten used to the violence. They are seeing the futility in trying to do anything.

"Nothing will get done until the people in power start jumping up and down and saying, 'We are going to get rid of these urban terrorists who are driving people out of Jackson.' "

Blonda Young Mack, president of Jackson's Washington Addition Neighborhood Association, said there is a cry for help from the police department.

"It's just that Chief Moore or none of his police officers ever come to our neighborhood meetings to listen to us," said Mack, who had a double homicide occur just yards from her home last year. "People have gotten so fed up with the police department that they don't even call anymore."

Moore disputes that.

"I have spoken at more meetings and been open to more citizens than any chief probably ever in Jackson," Moore said. "Our main goal has been building public trust with our department."

But, he admits, the people most likely to kill or be killed aren't the type that often attend neighborhood meetings.

"How do you stop people from killing one another?" Moore asked. "That is a nationwide question. We have not come up with the answers. We are nearly through this entire month and we (have seen one homicide). We haven't done anything different to make that happen. It just comes back to an attitudinal thing that fluctuates."

In most cases, that attitude led to the death of a black person. Eighty percent of the city's homicide victims were black, as were 39 of the 40 suspects arrested. But Derrick Johnson, president of the Mississippi NAACP, said there are no plans to call for talks about reducing violence between blacks.

"Most crimes occur between people who know each other," said Johnson, pointing to Jackson's 71 percent black population as a reason for the number of blacks involved in homicides. "We have come a long way from 10 years ago when crime was out of control under the (Kane) Ditto administration. There were twice as many people being killed as there are now."

Homicide totals in Jackson peaked at 95 in 1994.

Johnson said the black community has not railed openly for change by calling news conferences and holding rallies because those methods are not effective.

"In the black community, speaking publicly about issues is black folks talking to black folks in community meetings and churches," Johnson said. "Nothing gets done by going to the media."

The Rev. Hosea Hines, pastor at College Hill Baptist Church, said black churches need to do a better job of identifying troubled people and offering them conflict- resolution training, especially families prone to violence.

Ten of the city's homicides were the result of domestic abuse and, in at least 30 of the killings, the victim was acquainted with the suspect, according to police.

"The church must focus on human development," Hines said. "I would like to see a system devised where the police could notify the churches after they respond to domestic disturbance cases. That would at least give us an opportunity to counsel them or, if the needs go beyond what we can offer, send them to a more advanced level of counseling."

Part of that counseling should involve discussions about staying away from guns when involved in arguments, Hines said. Guns were used in 44 of the homicides, up from 36 in 2003, records show.

Operation Ceasefire, a joint operation between local, state and federal law enforcement aimed at taking guns from convicted felons, has removed 827 guns from the city's streets and the program has reduced gun violence in other parts of the country.

"Homicides are driven a lot of times by factors that we really can't control," said U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton, whose office funds the operation.

The capital city saw 52 people die in criminal homicides last year, an increase from 2003. Is there a public outcry to stop the killings, or have residents been numbed by years of violence?

[bourbon]

interesting stuff. where did you get that info.?

[bourbon]

"How do you stop people from killing one another?" [Jackson Police Chief] Moore asked. "That is a nationwide question. We have not come up with the answers."

Well, no sh-t!

Chief Moore is a complete joke. This is the same guy who once said that Jackson didn't have a gang problem. To bolster his (idiotic) point, he would refer to drive-by shootings as the work of "armed groups" instead of gangs, in press conferences as if they were somehow different creatures.

Now compare Moore's opinion to the results of a poll that a local t.v. station took on the question. ~95% of people polled said "Yes, Jackson does have a gang problem." Something like 4% said "maybe" and only 1% said "no."

Ya think Chief Moore is a bit out of touch???

[SunnySide]

"Moral relativism in all its glory. Served nearly six years for killing a policeman, now free as a bird and invited to speak at black history event while his victim rots in the ground. Words fail."

The liberal commie secular rot in America is all about

WORSHIPPING perps. Victims be damned ie., out of sight out of mind.

Victims rights now!

[Malichi]

Thanks. Just can't stand party poopers. I'm in Madison, I know WKB is up around Yazoo City, where are you?

[bourbon]

More Stokes threads:

Jackson MS city councilman Kenny Stokes threatens to slap colleague (and more fun)

Don't ignore supremacist flier, Kenny Stokes' comments

Stokes Rips Ward Lines OK'd by Council [Black Councilman Wants Fewer White Elected Officials]

Probes may follow bribe accusation [by Jackson, MS councilman].

[bourbon]

I meant to add you to post #49. sorry about that.

[onyx]

Neither of you warned me about Stokes...lol.
I had to see him for myself.

That's hot info, WKB.
Most enlightening.

[onyx]

Morning bourbon.
Another beautiful day in paradise.
I am loving the weather.

[Malichi]

No problemo!

[bourbon]

It IS nice outside today. Went to mass early this morning and then came home and woke up the baby. Even ate a Krispy Kreme donut after church. It doesn't get much better than that.

Okay, it would be better if Kenny Stokes were in jail. But I'll take it anyway.

[wardaddy]

Thank you for your insight Yudan.

[onyx]

Watching 12 news right now.
Stokes refused their request to interview him!

HA!

He's in deep doo-doo.

[Yudan]

As I was.

Ron Skinner is/was Louis Skinner's nephew. Never could keep that straight - the family resemblance has always been so striking.

[onyx]

I;m SO HAPPY to see you here.
Been a while, huh?

Thanks for all the info.
BTW, "I's" a real resident now. :)
Where are you, Memphis?

[dixiechick2000]

Thank you for weighing in on this.
I'm glad to see we got your attention. ;o)

VM170, I guess we don't know exactly who the shooter was,
but Imari Obadele was convicted of his murder.
AFAIC, if he didn't pull the trigger, he may as well have.
And, don't believe Kenny Stokes when he said Obadele wasn't in the house.


Now, as for you, Yudan...check in with us every
now and then.
We DO care, ya' know. ;o)

[dixiechick2000]

"How do you stop people from killing one another?" [Jackson Police Chief] Moore asked. "That is a nationwide question. We have not come up with the answers."


LOL! We fixated on the same quote.
Stupid is, as stupid does...


"Well, no sh-t!"


My sentiments, exactly.

Off topic, I hope the lovely mrs.bourbon is doing well.
Do we know if the new one will be pink or blue, yet?