Mississippi officer fired for confronting Confederate flag wavers now rehired

A black Capitol Police officer fired after a confrontation with protestors waving Confederate and state flags outside the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum has been rehired.

On Wednesday, Department of Finance and Administration officials, who oversee the Capitol Police, confirmed that the 57-year-old officer, Wardell Jackson, has been rehired, less than a day after the Clarion Ledger reported his termination. A video posted to Facebook captured the encounter, which took place Saturday.

The Delta Flaggers regularly protest outside state institutions that don't fly the state flag.

The Flaggers, which posted the video, said they wanted to take their picture holding the flags outside the civil rights museum sign and that the officer responded, "Hell, no" and to take his "a-" back across the street.

Jackson, a former Jackson police officer, said the situation began with a man asking if he could stand on top of the brick sign for the civil rights museum and the History of Mississippi Museum.

He said he told the man he couldn't do that and that he was trying to keep the driveway open "for my museum people to come in."

Then a second man came in, holding a Mississippi flag, he said. "He kept saying, 'This is your flag. Why don't you support your flag?'"

That man and others tried to turn into a racial matter, he said. "I felt I kept my cool."

He said he was fired Monday and rehired Wednesday. He said he is suspended till Monday, but will now be working the midnight shift.

"I did my job," he said. "I kept them off property. Now I'm being punished."

Support local journalism: Get a 1-year digital subscription for $9.99

African Americans hold the civil rights museum in high regard, said state Rep. Kathy Sykes, D-Jackson. To wave Confederate battle flags around the museum is "almost like desecration," she said.

Sykes said she believes the punishment exceeded what happened. "I think it was too drastic to fire him. It sends the wrong message."

Sykes praised DFA officials for giving the officer his job back. "Hopefully in the future," she said, "our employees won’t be subject to harassment on their job."

In the video, Jackson can be seen walking up to a man waving a Mississippi flag while standing on the sidewalk outside the museum. Jackson said to him, "Sir, sir, stop acting the fool, and get over there off the sidewalk."

More: Challenge to lawmakers: Remove Confederate emblem from flag

More: Tupelo won't challenge mayor's removal of state flag outside police building

A woman shouted back, "It's a public sidewalk."

"People, people, let me tell you something," Jackson said, "if you set foot on this grass, I'm going to have to throw you back out of here."

When Jackson grabbed the flagpole for a moment, pretending to jerk it away, the man waving the flag said, "That's assault."

"Did I put my hands on you?" Jackson asked. "Thank you."

Another man yelled out, "You hit him with the stick."

Jackson told the man with the flag to get off the sidewalk. "You're the a-hole," the man said.

"You need to get your a-- off the sidewalk," Jackson replied.

The officer told the crowd taking the video, "See, I can't be nice to y'all."

After ordering the man with the flag off the sidewalk, the two exchanged words. The man with the flag finally left the sidewalk, and the officer raised his fist.

Mississippi is the only state with a Confederate battle flag incorporated into in its state flag design. The state flag doesn't fly outside the museum or its companion, the History of Mississippi Museum. The state flag also doesn't fly outside any of Mississippi's major universities.

A handful of Mississippi's top leaders, including House Speaker Phillip Gunn, support replacing the state flag, but Gov. Phil Bryant and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves support keeping the flag.

A petition is now underway to add the state flag to Mississippi's 1890 Constitution, which holds its own dark past for its role in seeking to disenfranchise African Americans through poll taxes and literacy tests.

The state flag was adopted four years later. In 2001, Mississippians voted to keep the flag by a 2-to-1 margin.



