Adrian Perkins was riding high three years ago when he defeated the incumbent to become mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana. He was in his early 30s having announced his candidacy while still a student at Harvard Law School. The city’s Black majority was optimistic, but when it comes to police brutality, it seems the former West Point graduate lacks both courage and conviction. To illustrate, compare his response to the police killing of an unarmed Black man to that of the White mayor of Minneapolis.
Following the murder of George Floyd, Mayor Jacob Frey called for charges against the involved officers who were immediately fired. Frey implemented significant new police policies and supported the city’s $27 million civil settlement with the family of George Floyd.
Around that same time, video surfaced of Shreveport police beating and tasing Tommie McGlothen Jr. The unarmed, mentally ill man died hours later. SPD did not publicly report McGlothen’s death and waited nearly two months before providing the district attorney’s office with a reportedly incomplete file.
Mayor Perkins has said almost nothing about McGlothen’s killing. Even after District Attorney James Stewart sought and secured a rare grand jury indictment against the involved officers, they remain on the Shreveport police force. The mayor hasn’t joined other local leaders in demanding greater police oversight and remains protective of his police chief who he promoted over the objections of the police union and against the recommendation of the police chief selection committee. He’s all but ignored the McGlothen family’s lawsuit and $25 million settlement demand.
Black people have to wonder what good does it do to elect Black politicians if they are going to abandon the Black community when it is most vulnerable.
