United States | Jackson drama

An FBI sting operation catches Jackson’s mayor taking big bribes

What the sensational undoing of the black leader means for Mississippi’s failing capital

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba addresses the media after pleading not guilty to federal charges at the Thad Cochran United States Courthouse in Jackson.
Photograph: Barbara Gauntt/Clarion-Ledger/USA Today Network/Imagn
|Jackson

EVERYONE THOUGHT a new hotel would revitalise the downtown area. Nearly two decades ago city leaders in Jackson, the capital of Mississippi, negotiated a $10m loan to fund developers to build on empty land next to a glossy convention centre. But the area was derelict and no one put in a bid for it.

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This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Lumumba in limbo”

From the November 30th 2024 edition

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