JPD Commander Under Investigation for Social Media Posts
2015/05/12 – A high-ranking officer in the Jackson Police Department is under an internal investigation for racial and religious slurs as well as comments regarding the female anatomy made on his social media page.
Dating back to 2009, the Twitter page that appears to belong to JPD Commander Tyree Jones includes posts regarding Muslims, African Americans and women.
Chief Lee Vance said he became aware of the comments after reading the initial story on The Clarion-Ledger’s website Monday afternoon. Vance said he immediately began an investigation once he saw the posts.
“We don’t condone racial bigotry or insensitivity toward females,” Vance said. “It’s not consistent with the mission of this department so we will conduct an investigation. It will be handled like any other internal investigation. The results of that, we’ll deal with it through our disciplinary process.”
Jones, who is black, refers to black people as “koons” in at least one instance and refers to Muslims as “Mooslims” on one occasion.
Referring to women as “hoes” multiple times, Jones uses slang terms for the female anatomy twice and references nude photos of women.
The Twitter profile has a picture of Jones in uniform and identifies him as “Commander/Major Investigations, Jackson Police Department.”
Jones did not return multiple calls seeking comment.
In a post made on May 5, Jones references the shooting in Garland, Texas at a draw Mohammad cartoon contest that ended in the death of the two attackers. ISIS has since claimed responsibility for the attack.
The post depicts two body bags being carried away by two people in Hazmat gear. The photo reads: “Two Mooslims offended by the 1st Amendment were quickly introduced to the 2nd Amendment. Welcome to Texas B*tches!” Under the photo, Jones wrote, “2nd Amendment, God Bless America.”
Ibrahim Hooper, National Communications Director with CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Jones has the right to his opinion and to post it on the internet but he questioned someone with those opinions being in law enforcement. Hooper said he, along with the rest of the American Muslim community, condemned the Texas attack.
“He’s free to be an anti-Muslim bigot if he so chooses,” Hooper said. “The difference comes when bigotry is esposed by a person in a position of authority, particularly a law enforcement officer that can make life and death decisions in the field. If those decisions are made based on prejudice and bigotry, I think we have a real problem there.”
On February 24, 2012, Jones retweeted a photo of two people hiding behind a large metal bin with a line of police in riot gear in the background. The two people hiding in the photo are black. Jones added a caption, “Dem koons hiding, huh?”
Jones’ comments are “racist” and “hate speech” according to a spokesperson for the NAACP.
Jamiah Adams, NAACP interim vice president of communications and digital media, said while Jones’ comments are protected by the constitution, “It’s not OK.”
Adams said the term “coon” is a “racial epithet” and is “a derogatory name that refers to people of African descent.”
The term is considered hate speech regardless of the race of the person using it, Adams said.
“Racial profiling has to do with the victim, the people who are receiving the message, receiving the treatment, not the perpetrator,” she said. “No matter who it is…if they’re using that kind of language it’s considered hate speech.”
She added, “It doesn’t matter what race you are. If you’re using that language, it’s hate language, it’s racist language.”
Hooper said, unfortunately, comments like the ones Jones made are common. However, when someone like Jones, an officer of the law, makes the “bigoted” comments, the ramifications can be life and death.
“It’s not unlike the things we see a thousand times a day on the internet but the difference is when it comes from somebody who has actual authority over other people in society,” Hooper said. “That’s’ where we need to draw the line on what’s acceptable.”
Vance said JPD does have a social media policy.
The Clarion-Ledger filed a public records request for the policy but as of press time, had not received a copy.
Since the original posting of this story, the Twitter profile that appears to belong to Jones, @HOLLYWOODNUPE97, has been deleted.
Source: The Clarion-Ledger
