Saturday morning Black Westchester released an editorial about a black female Police Officer Nakia Jones who was outraged about a video her son showed her on the murder of Alton Sterling at the hands of law enforcement and publicly expresses her feeling on Facebook Live. She gets suspended for speaking the truth. The two white Baton Rouge police officers who actually killed Alton Sterling, Howie Lake II and Blane Salamoni, who have previous “use of force” complaints against them, get placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation. Is this what passes for justice in the United States of America now?
At the end we posted an update: Mayor Brad Sellers has released a statement confirming that Officer Jones is not fired, not suspended and is still a full-time officer. He stated that she did not violate social media policy by making the now viral video. I believe they are backtracking and after the media fallout they realized it was not a good look and rescinded her suspension.
When you read the Mayor’s statement, sometimes it is not in what he says but what he doesn’t say. Yes he says she isn’t fired! Yes he says she isn’t suspended! We understand that. However what he doesn’t say in his carefully worded statement is that she was not suspended, what the media reported was in fact incorrect, which is what you would say if the media reporting of the situation were not true. Question still remains was she suspended as was reported.
To add to the confusion of what if anything did happen was the answer Officer Jones gave WKYC Channel 3 Cleveland reporter Hillary Golston, who asked,
“Officer Jones, people want to know when are you going to get back out in the street?”
Her response was, “I can’t confirm that.”
Some are saying she was suspended and the Mayor immediately put her back to work immediately after the massive national news coverage. Some news outlets are now reporting now that she was never suspended or fired in the first place. It has been difficult to navigate through the conflicting accounts, some from credible very news sources and radio stations on both sides. What we can report is Officer Jones is actively working full-time and is not currently suspended. We want to make sure we at least get that part of the story out there that we can confirm as actually. What I wrote the previous editorial I do stand by that is she was suspended, it was egregious. Especially since the source of her public display of frustration the killing of Alton Sterling and the officers responsible for his death were placed on paid administrative leave.
BW commends Officer Nakia Jones for speaking up against Police Criminality and the killing of black lives at the hand of law enforcement as well as at the hands of other black lives. We will be following up to report if there is any retaliation against Officer Jones by her department or any further developments.
Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below and anyone with any actually proof of her suspension or any retaliation agaisnt her, email us at BlackWestchester@gmail.com
AJ Woodson
AJ Woodson is the Editor-In-Chief of Black Westchester and Co-Owner of Urban Soul Media Group, the parent company, Host & Producer of the People Before Politics Radio Show. AJ is a Father, Brother, An Author, Journalism Fellow (Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism), Hip-Hop Artist - one third of the legendary underground rap group JVC FORCE known for the single Strong Island, Radio Personality, Hip-Hop Historian, Documentarian, Activist, Criminal Justice Advocate and Freelance Journalist whose byline has appeared in several print publications and online sites including The Source, Vibe, the Village Voice, Upscale, Sonicnet.com, Launch.com, Rolling Out Newspaper, Daily Challenge Newspaper, Spiritual Minded Magazine, Word Up! Magazine, On The Go Magazine and several others.
