AS LUCAS SAID, THE PRESIDENT’S
AT CAMP DAVID THIS WEEKEND.
WANT TO GO TO TED WILLIAMS RIGHT
NOW, FORMER D.C. HOMICIDE
DETECTIVE AND FOX NEWS
CONTRIBUTOR, LAWYER, HE’S SEEN
IT FROM BOTH SIDES HERE.
TED, GOOD TO HAVE YOU, I’M SORRY
ON THESE, YOU KNOW, OCCASIONS
HERE.
BUT THIS IS A RIDDLE THAT
SEARCHES FOR SOME SORT OF A
RESPONSE.
THE WAY AND THE MEANS BY WHICH,
YOU KNOW, POLICE APPREHENDED
THIS YOUNG MAN THAT SEEMED
DISPROPORTIONATE TO THE CHARGE
OF ERRATIC OR RECKLESS DRIVING.
MAYBE WE’LL GET THE DETAILS ON
THAT SOON ENOUGH, BUT WHAT DID
YOU THINK?
>> YOU KNOW, YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY
RIGHT.
IT IS RELATIVELY
DISPROPORTIONATE TO A RECKLESS
DRIVING STOP.
NEIL, RECKLESS DRIVING SHOULD
NEVER BE A DEATH SENTENCE.
AND WHEN YOU LOOK AT WHAT TOOK
PLACE HERE, THESE OFFICERS
APPROACHED THAT CAR AND
INITIALLY THEY JERKED THIS MAN
OUT OF THE CAR.
AND THE FIRST THING THE MAN
SAID, I DID NOT DO ANYTHING.
I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING.
AND THEY BEAT THIS MAN
MERCIFULLY.
I MEAN, YOU KNOW, NEIL, I PLAYED
THIS OVER IN MY MIND ALL OF LAST
NIGHT, AND I CAN TELL YOU THE
CLOSEST THIS COMES TO WAS THE
RODNEY KING BEATING MANY, MANY
YEARS AGO.
BUT, YOU KNOW, NEIL, WE EXPECT
MORE OF OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT.
AND I GOTTA TELL YOU, THIS IS
THE EXCEPTION, NOT THE NORM.
THE MANY GOOD MEN AND WOMEN WHO
PUT THAT UNIFORM ON AND GO OUT
HERE AND SERVE THEIR COMMUNITIES
DO IT IN A VERY PROFESSIONAL
MANNER.
THESE THE OFFICERS WERE ROGUE
OFFICERS.
THEY WERE POWER-DRIVEN.
AND I GOTTA TELL YOU, NEIL, THE
THING THAT TROUBLES ME IS I
DON’T BELIEVE THAT THIS WAS THE
FIRST TIME THAT THESE GUYS HAVE
ACTED THE WAY THEY DID.
THEY FELT VERY CALM IN THEIR
ENVIRONMENT BEATING THIS MAN THE
MANNER IN WHICH THEY DID.
NEIL: NOW, IN THE MEANTIME, TED,
YOU’VE PROBABLY HEARD UNIT THAT
THESE OFFICERS CAME FROM -- NOT
THE TWO THAT ARE NOW BEING
INVESTIGATE FILED A NEIGHBORING
COUNTY SHERIFF, BUT THE FIVE
INVOLVED, THEY’RE PART OF THIS
SCORPION ANTI-CRIME UNIT.
AND I’M WONDERING WHETHER IT’S A
DIFFERENT ESPRIT DE CORPS.
I KNOW RIGHT NOW THE MAYOR AND
THE POLICE CHIEF HAVE SUSPENDED
THE SCORPION GROUP’S OPERATIONS,
BUT WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF IT, MAKE
OF IT?
>> WELL, THE SCORPION UNIT CAME
IN BECAUSE CRIME WAS OFF THE
CHARTS WILL IN MEMPHIS,
TENNESSEE, AND IT CAME INTO
BEING IN ABOUT OCTOBER OF 2021.
AND WHAT YOU HAD WAS A LOT OF
OFFICERS WHO HAD SOME EXPERIENCE
ON THE STREET ASSIGNED TO THIS
COUNT -- UNIT.
BUT WHAT HAS HAPPENED
UNFORTUNATELY, NEIL, AND IT IS
HAPPENING ALL OVER THE COUNTRY,
IS THAT THE EXPERIENCED OFFICERS
HAVE LEFT THESE VARIOUS UNITS,
AND THEY’VE LEFT IT TO SOME
INEXPERIENCED OFFICERS.
NOW, I’M NOT SAYING THESE
OFFICERS WERE INEXPERIENCED.
THESE OFFICERS, CLEARLY, THEY
RANGED IN THEIR 20s AND 30s.
SO THEY HAD SOME AT LEAST 5
YEARS OF EXPERIENCE ON THE
POLICE FORCE.
IN THE SCORPION UNIT WAS
SOMETHING THAT WAS NEEDED, BUT
AT STAGE I THINK IT NEEDS TO BE
DISBANDED, AND I WOULD HOPE THAT
AT SOME STAGE THEY’LL PUT
ANOTHER UNIT IN PLACE.
NEIL: YOU KNOW, TED, ONE OF THE
FIRST THINGS THAT CAME UP EVEN
FROM BENJAMIN CRUMP, THE LAWYER
FOR THE FAMILY OF TYRE IS THAT,
QUOTE, WE HAVE NEVER SEEN SWIFT
JUSTICE LIKE THIS, REFERRING TO
THE ALMOST IMMEDIATE FIRING OF
THE FIVE OFFICERS INVOLVED AND
THEN, OF COURSE, THESE CHARGES
AGAINST THEM ALL THE WAY UP TO
SECOND-DEGREE MURDER WHICH COULD
LAND ALL THESE GUYS IN PRISON
FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES IF
FOUND GUILTY.
SO HE SAID THAT THAT WAS
INSTRUMENTAL IN GETTING AHEAD OF
SOMETHING THAT COULD HAVE
RESULTED IN A MUCH MORE VIOLENT
REACTION.
DO YOU AGREE WITH THAT?
DO YOU THINK THAT THE REACTION
WE GOT, WHICH WAS RELATIVELY
CALM -- SOME INCIDENTS IN NEW
YORK STOMPING ON POLICE VEHICLES
AND THE LIKE -- WAS BECAUSE
LOCAL AUTHORITIES GOT AHEAD OF
HIT -- OF IT?
>> WELL, THEY DID GET IN FRONT
OF IT.
BEN CRUMP IS A PERSONAL FRIEND
OF MINE, NEIL, AND I CAN TELL
YOU THAT THE MEMPHIS CITIZENS
AND THE LAWMAKERS THERE, THEY
GOT VERY MUCH IN FRONT.
THEY WERE PROACTIVE RATHER THAN
BEING REACTIVE.
BUT THIS COULD NOT HAPPEN, I
WOULD HOPE THAT AT SOME STAGE
THIS WOULD BE SOMEWHAT OF A
BLUEPRINT FOR THE REST OF THE
COUNTRY.
BUT BECAUSE YOU HAVE UNIONS,
BECAUSE YOU HAVE CERTAIN RULES
AND REGULATIONS MANY THESE
VARIOUS -- IN THESE VARIOUS
CITIES AROUND THE COUNTRY, MAY
OR MAY NOT BE ABLE TO BE PUT
INTO PLACE.
BUT WITH I THINK FACT THAT THEY
WERE PROACTIVE AND THE CITIZENS
OF THE, OF MEMPHIS AS WELL AS
THE CITIZENS AROUND THE COUNTRY
SAW THAT THEY WERE TRYING TO DO
SOMETHING WILL IN MEMPHIS, I
THINK IT HELPED TO QUELL RIOTS
PERHAPS AROUND THIS COUNTRY.
NEIL: YEAH.
LET’S HOPE IT STAYS THAT WAY.
SOME PROTESTS AND DEMONSTRATIONS
ARE STILL BEING PLANNED, AS YOU
KNOW, TED, FOR THIS DAY AND THIS
WEEKEND.
WE’LL KEEP AN EYE ON THAT, AND