U.S. state Mississippi OKs more state policing in mostly Black city

NEW YORK, April 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. state Mississippi's governor signed a bill on Friday to expand the territory of a state-run police department inside the majority-Black capital city of Jackson, and the new law is expected to face a court challenge from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), The Associated Press (AP) has reported.

The legislation was passed by a majority-white state House and Senate. About 83 percent of Jackson's residents are Black, the largest percentage of any major U.S. city, according to the report.

NAACP national president Derrick Johnson, who lives in Jackson, said the law would treat Black people as "second-class citizens" by stomping on rights of local self-government. He said at a community meeting on April 6 in Jackson that the NAACP intends to sue the state.

"They're only imposing this on the city of Jackson," Johnson said. "No other jurisdiction in the state of Mississippi will have this type of oversight and taking of local authority. That is a direct violation of equal protection."