Mississippi mayor refuses to resign, didn’t see anything wrong with Floyd video

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Hal Marx, the mayor of Petal, Mississippi, rejected calls for his resignation after his comments in the wake of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis sparked controversy.

The Petal Board of Aldermen on Thursday held a special meeting seeking to persuade Marx to step down.

He refused.

"I will never surrender to the mob mentality," said Marx, adding that he and his family had received death threats.

Residents, with emotions running high, called for his resignation. Protests, sparked by his comments, are planned over the next three days.

The dispute started Tuesday when Marx tweeted "Why in the world would anyone choose to become a police officer in our society today?"

The mayor was referring to the police officers who were fired Tuesday, a day after Floyd died after being pinned to the ground by one of the officers.

Marx received backlash, but he says his words were misinterpreted by some.

Jason A. Darby, another Twitter user, responded by saying, "Would be nice to get a few in there that understand reasonable force, when it’s needed, and don’t give the rest of them a bad reputation."

What followed was a response by Marx that ignited criticism on Twitter:

"If you are talking about the incident in MN, I didn’t see anything unreasonable. If you can say you can’t breathe, you’re breathing. Most likely that man died of overdose or heart attack. Video doesn’t show his resistance that got him in that position. Police being crucified."

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