JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Bribery and conspiracy charges against the mayor are the latest shock to Mississippi’s capital, where a federal appointee is leading water system after almost collapsing and state police patrol parts of the majority-black city because of white legislators’ concerns about crime.

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and two other Democratic elected officials — Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens and Jackson City Councilman Aaron B. Banks — have pleaded not guilty to federal taxes Thursday. They will remain free pending trial in a case related to the proposed development of a long-vacant downtown property.

“I am not guilty and therefore I will not act as a guilty man,” said the mayor, who is seeking a third term in 2025.

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

“First Trump wins, now he’s trying to impeach my brother,” Rukia Lumumba posted on Facebook. “As Spike Lee says, wake up! They come for the best of us because we threaten their power.”

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

City Council member Kenneth Stokes, a fellow Democrat and frequent critic of the mayor, said the allegations heighten skepticism.

“You drink dirty water. You cannot pave your streets. You’ve already lost your confidence,” Stokes, who is also black, told the media.

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

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

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

A cold winter 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 points so they could flush toilets and bathe, and the National Guard helped distribute drinking water.

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

A conflict over enforcement developed in 2023, when the majority-white, Republican-controlled Legislature voted to expand the territory of the Capitol Policea division of the State Department of Public Safety. State officers previously patrolled around government buildings in downtown Jackson and now do so in 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 looking to build a hotel near the downtown convention center and offered payments, including $50,000 for the mayor’s re-election campaign, according to court documents.

Two others were previously caught in the bribery investigation.

City Council member Angelique Lee, a Democrat, resigned in August and pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges. Her sentencing is scheduled for Wednesday.

Sherik Marve Smith — an insurance broker and a relative of Owens, according to court documents — dropped the charge and pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge in the case on Oct. 17. He agreed to forfeit $20,000 and his sentencing is set for February. 19.

In May, FBI agents raided Owens’ office and a downtown cigar bar he owns. Among the items found in the office was a box made to look like a book labeled as the US Constitution; Inside was about $20,000 in cash, with about $9,900 with serial numbers confirming it was paid by the alleged developers to Owens, according to the indictment.

Owens bragged to the alleged developers that he had influence over Jackson officials, saying he had “information on all the city councilors” and could get approval votes, according to the indictment. He also said Owens told the alleged developers that Mississippi politicians live off campaign contributions, that he knows how to “clean” outside money by putting it in an in-state bank and that he doesn’t care about source of money.

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

Outside court Thursday, Banks declined to comment. Owens found the FBI’s investigation flawed, adding, “We believe the truth needs to come out, that the cherry-picked statements of a locker room brawl are not a crime.”