The Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration changed their minds after they fired a black Capitol Police officer who got into an altercation with a group that was reportedly waving Confederate and Mississippi State flags outside the state’s Civil Rights Museum.
Video of the incident, which took place on Saturday, shows Officer Wardell Jackson trying to get people away from the property, including a man who was waving a state flag. The flag of Mississippi includes a miniaturized version of the Confederate flag, which is viewed by many as a racist image that symbolizes slavery. Officer Jackson told the group to move away, while they were reportedly hoping to take a picture of them holding the flags outside the museum.
At one point, Jackson grabbed a flag pole that a man was holding, and a person off-camera yelled, “that’s assault,” and accused Jackson of hitting the man, which he had not done.
The group, known as the Delta Flaggers, have a history of protesting outside state buildings that don’t fly the state flag. Such buildings include not just the Civil Rights Museum, but the History of Mississippi Museum and several universities in the state.
Jackson was reportedly fired on Monday, but rehired just two days later, according to the Clarion Ledger. He did say, however, that he’s suspended until Monday, and then will be working the midnight shift.
Jackson doesn’t think he did anything wrong, and doesn’t feel he should have faced any discipline.
“I did my job,” he told the newspaper. “I kept them off property. Now I’m being punished.”
[Image via screengrab]
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