MCSO posts new ‘Thug Thursday’ despite calls to stop using the controversial phrase

MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office just made its stance on its controversial “Thug Thursday” segment clear.

On the same day that protesters called on the sheriff’s office to stop using the phrase, the agency took to Facebook to make a new post.

The post appears to make light of the calls of the protesters, using hashtags that include #wedidnotcallhimathug #yet and #isjamieathugyet.

Thursday’s protest came on the heels of a controversial post last week in which the sheriff’s office shared an image of a Christmas tree photoshopped with the mug shots of wanted suspects. MCSO took down the post after death threats and fire to their building.

“To celebrate so crassly the arrest of those who may have allegedly transgressed against society but still are members of society paints a picture ‘once a criminal always a criminal’ and traffics in racist tropes,” said Faith in Action Alabama, the group behind Thursday’s protest.

WKRG News 5 reached out to MCSO for a comment on the protest. The sheriff’s office did not respond to our request but did write up a new “Thug Thursday” post for Facebook.

Earlier this week, Sheriff Sam Cochran defended the weekly segment and pointed to how the posts routinely help to put suspected criminals behind bars, adding “engaging the public through Facebook is kind of like advertising, we want to have followers so we want to involve them.”

LATEST POSTS: