Below is a political opinion column by Bobby Harrison:
On Saturday morning, Jan. 24, as a massive ice storm was carving a path of destruction through parts of north Mississippi and more than 48 hours before Gov. Tate Reeves activated the Mississippi National Guard to provide assistance, he went on Fox News.
The governor says he went on Fox News to provide national viewers an update on the storm’s impact on Mississippi. It seemed logical for Reeves to go on Fox to remind the national audience about Mississippi and the plight caused in the state by the ice storm. After all, it is not unheard of for Mississippi to be overlooked in national reports on the impact of weather events.
Gov. Tate Reeves speaks during the Mississippi Economic Council’s annual Hobnob at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
So, it could be argued the governor was doing his duty by reminding a national audience that Mississippi was the state that stood to be the most impacted by the winter storm.
But the second-term Republican governor did not stop there. Reeves felt compelled not only to talk about the woes Mississippians face from freezing rain, but also to pontificate on events in Minneapolis, where the largest congregation of ICE agents in the country are clashing with protesters resulting in chaos, violence and at least two tragic deaths.
Reeves blamed the Democratic Minnesota governor and Minneapolis mayor for not taking control of the situation. It is perhaps worth noting, though, that as Reeves spoke Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz had activated the National Guard to deal with his situation. Reeves had not at that time done the same for the ice storm in Mississippi.
On social media, Reeves wrote, “Went on Fox this morning to discuss the historic winter storms in our state, but breaking news on the chaos and disorder caused by lawless hordes in Minneapolis pulled the focus. The mobs of anarchists and radicals who are terrorizing American cities need to go home, whether that’s just back to their mother’s basements or back to Mogadishu.
“Stay safe and warm Mississippi…
“And let’s be grateful it’s just sleet and snow – and not Antifa – closing our streets.”
Granted, it is really like apples to oranges to compare the freezing rain that pummeled Mississippi with the protests occurring in Minneapolis. But it was Reeves who chose to make that comparison, saying “let’s be grateful, it’s just sleet and snow – and not Antifa – closing our streets.”
Even as the governor wrote his social media post, people in the Delta and in areas of north Mississippi including Lafayette and Tippah counties were on the verge of being left in the dark and huddling in the cold. Soon people would die as a result of their efforts to stay warm in the extreme cold with no electricity.
In some areas of Mississippi, communities struggled to provide water pressure to people’s homes.
Granted, ice storms cause unique and difficult problems that many areas of the country don’t understand. This is not meant as a judgment on the state’s response, but just on Reeves’ rhetoric.
Were those people in Mississippi in the path of the ice storm really better off at that time than Minnesotans? Has the quality of life for the average Minnesotans – many of whom choose to protest based on social media and news accounts – really been harmed by the protests? They can still go the store, cook a dinner, watch television, take a warm shower and not freeze in their homes.
Sure, according to reports, Minneapolis streets are being blocked for short periods of time by protesters. But in Mississippi, days after the ice storm, social media accounts report people being stranded on interstate highways for hours – literally all night.
State officials finally closed portions of those interstate highways in Mississippi – not Minnesota. The closure was not because of “mobs of anarchists and radicals” but because of ice – not ICE.
-- Article credit to Bobby Harrison for Mississippi Today --
