https://www.facebook.com/chris.blount.169/videos/1782045751826972/
A Mississippi officer is back on the job less than a day after he was fired for confronting a group of Confederate flag wavers in front of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.
Capitol Police confirmed Wednesday that Officer Wardell Jackson, 57, was rehired, the Clarion-Ledger reported. He’s suspended until next Monday, however.
“I did my job,” Jackson said. “I kept them off property. Now I’m being punished.”
Video of the incident was posted to Facebook this weekend after a group called the “Delta Flaggers” showed up to protest at the museum. They became upset after Jackson refused to let them take a picture holding the flags in front of the museum sign, according to the newspaper. From there, things escalated.
One of the men then asked if he could stand atop the brick sign for the museum, to which Jackson responded, “Hell no” and told the man to take his “ass” back across the street.
“Sir, sir, stop acting the fool, and get over there off the sidewalk,” the officer is heard saying.
Rep. Kathy Sykes (D-Jackson) told the Clarion-Ledger that African-Americans hold the local museum in high regard and that to wave Confederate battle flags around it is “almost like desecration.”
“Hopefully in the future, our employees won’t be subject to harassment on their job,” Sykes added.
Although Jackson has been reinstated, the veteran officer will now be working the midnight shift.
