The bribery and conspiracy charges against the mayor are the latest shock in Mississippi’s capital, where a federally appointed official is managing the water system after it nearly collapsed and state police are patrolling parts of the majority-black city. because of white lawmakers’ concerns about crime.

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and two other Democratic elected officials, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens and Jackson City Council member Aaron B. Banks, pleaded not guilty to federal charges on Thursday. They will remain free while awaiting trial in a case involving the proposed development of a long-vacant downtown property.

“I am not guilty, so I will not act like a guilty one,” said the mayor, who is seeking a third term in 2025.

Lumumba is black and has described himself as a “radical” who is “uncomfortable with oppressive conditions.” Both he and his sister, Rukia Lumumba, say they believe he faces a political process, even though the Justice Department is still run by a Democratic administration.

“First Trump wins, now they are trying to impeach my brother,” Rukia Lumumba posted on Facebook. “As Spike Lee says, WAKE UP! “They are coming for the best of us because we are threatening their power.”

Distrust of government runs deep in Jackson, from people who say the state has blocked efforts to help the city to those who say the city has stumbled in providing basic services.

Councilman Kenneth Stokes, a fellow Democrat and frequent critic of the mayor, said the allegations sharpen skepticism.

“You are drinking dirty water. You can’t pave your streets. You’ve already lost trust,” Stokes, who is also black, told the media.

“Don’t say you’re running for public office to help people when you’re trying to help yourself,” Stokes said. “If you’re going to help people, help them.”

Jackson’s population peaked at about 203,000 in 1980, a decade after public school integration, and has since fallen to about 143,700. More than 80% of residents are black, the highest percentage of any major American city, and about 25% live in poverty.

The city struggled for years with water quality issues and understaffing at its two treatment plants.

A cold snap in early 2021 froze some treatment equipment and left many people with low pressure or no running water. For weeks, thousands of people collected water in buckets from distribution sites so they could flush toilets and bathe, and the National Guard helped distribute drinking water.

Tens of thousands of people had little or no water for weeks in August and September 2022 after heavy rain exacerbated problems at one of the plants. The city had already been under a boil water notice for a month because the state Department of Health found cloudy water that could cause digestive problems. The federal government put an independent administrator in charge of the system in late 2022, despite objections from the mayor and his political allies.

A conflict over law enforcement unfolded in 2023 when the majority-white, Republican-controlled Legislature voted to expand the territory of the Capitol Police, a division of the state Department of Public Safety. State troopers previously patrolled around government buildings in downtown Jackson and now patrol a significantly larger area.

People who protested the expansion said it would give white state officials disproportionate power in Jackson. Earlier this year, Republican Governor Tate Reeves and Mayor Lumumba announced “Operation Unified,” a federal, state and local effort to combat violent crime in the city.

Indictments were filed against the mayor, Owens and Banks after two people working for the FBI posed as real estate developers who wanted to build a hotel near the downtown convention center and provided payments, including $50,000 to the re-election campaign. of the mayor, according to court documents.

Two others were previously involved in the bribery investigation.

Angelique Lee, a Democratic council member, resigned in August and pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges. His sentencing is scheduled for Wednesday.

Sherik Marve Smith, an insurance broker and relative of Owens, according to court documents, waived prosecution and pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge in the case on Oct. 17. He agreed to forfeit $20,000 and is scheduled to be sentenced on February 1. 19.

In May, FBI agents raided Owens’ office and a downtown cigar bar he owned. Among the items found in the office was a safe made to look like a book labeled the United States Constitution; Inside was about $20,000 in cash, of which about $9,900 with serial numbers confirmed to have been paid by the alleged developers to Owens, according to the indictment.

Owens bragged to the alleged promoters about having influence over Jackson officials, saying he had “information on every council member in the city” and could get votes approved, according to the indictment. He also said Owens told the alleged developers that Mississippi politicians live off campaign contributions, that he knew how to “clean up” outside money by putting it in an in-state bank and that he didn’t care where the money came from.

Owens “facilitated more than $80,000 in bribe payments” to Lumumba, Banks and Lee in exchange for their agreement to secure approval of the multimillion-dollar downtown development, according to the indictment.

Outside the courthouse Thursday, Banks declined to comment. Owens called the FBI investigation flawed, adding, “We believe the truth needs to come out, that selected drunken statements and locker room pranks are not a crime.”