Stokes Moves to End Jackson’s Data Center Ban, Then Tells Muslim Protesters to “Take the Rags Off Your Heads,” WLBT Reports

The Jackson City Council recessed for an hour Tuesday after Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes, who had introduced an ordinance to end the city’s moratorium on data centers, said he would “cut that b---- out” during an argument with a protester and told Muslim protesters to “take the rags off your heads,” WLBT reported.

Stokes made the remark after saying a protester had talked about his mother, according to the station, which posted video of the exchange. “I don’t fight women, and I never fight them, but I cut that b---- out,” he said. The argument appeared to be with Candace Abdul-Tawwab, an outspoken critic of data centers, WLBT reported. Stokes then told her and other Muslim protesters to “take the rags off your heads. Y’all are not Muslim.”

Council President Vernon Hartley tried to gavel the meeting down, and Ward 2 Councilwoman Tina Clay called for a recess. Council members Brian Grizzell, LaShia Brown-Thomas and Kevin Parkinson started to walk out while people in the audience chanted “get him out,” according to WLBT. The three came back so the meeting could be properly recessed.

Stokes said he had no problem with whatever anyone wanted to say but took issue with someone calling out his mother. “Black people know you don’t talk about nobody’s mama,” he said, according to WLBT. “If you’re so immature that you’re going to bring up my mama, then I’m going to handle it the way I did.” He added that he “made my statements and I handled it like I was supposed to handle it.”

Hartley urged the audience to be civil, in what WLBT said appears to be a common theme at recent council meetings. “We have non-agenda items and agenda items that we address, and we try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt,” he said. “But what we’re asking is please, let’s do stuff decently and in order.”

The ordinance Stokes introduced would rescind the moratorium the council approved in July. Stokes was one of the five members who voted for that ban; Hartley and Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote voted against it, WLBT reported Monday. The one-page draft in the Nov. 3 council packet does not say why he wants to end it, the station reported.

On Tuesday, Stokes said the city should embrace data centers and the potential revenue they would generate, according to WLBT. The station pointed to figures given to the Madison County Board of Supervisors earlier this year showing that the AWS data centers there are expected to bring the county $6 million in new revenue this year and as much as $54 million a year in new funds by 2032.

While the moratorium is in place, the city will not accept, process or approve permit applications for new data centers or expansions of existing ones, WLBT reported. The ban was expected to expire Feb. 12, but because the vote was not published until October, it will stay in place until April 4, according to the station.

As of Monday, only one company had applied to rezone land for a data center: Saxum Investment Group LLC, which is seeking to rezone about 230 acres along Forest Avenue Extension, WLBT reported. Its attorney, Robert Ireland, asked the Planning Board in May to hold off on considering the request until the city has a data center ordinance, according to the station.

WLBT reported a similar confrontation at the Oct. 6 meeting. Hartley gaveled down Abdul-Tawwab, who had questioned who council members were working for, and later called security to remove her from the podium, the station reported at the time.

What’s next: WLBT’s reports did not say when the council could vote on the repeal.