JUSTICE HAS LAUNCHED AN
INVESTIGATION INTO THE SITUATION
THAT YOU SEE IN THE VIDEO.
GENE, YOUR WRITING ABOUT THE
SHOOTING OF JACOB BLAKE THIS
MORNING, WHAT DO YOU SEE IN THAT
VIDEO?
>> WHAT I SEE IN THAT VIDEO IS
AWFUL, WILLIE.
I DON’T SEE EVERYTHING IN THE
VIDEO.
YOU DON’T -- YOU CAN’T SEE WHAT
HAPPENS AT THE MOMENT OF THE
SHOOTING.
YOU CAN’T SEE WHETHER THERE IS
SOMETHING, ANYTHING, THAT HE
DOES WHEN HE ENTERS THE CAR THAT
CAUSES THIS POLICE OFFICER TO
INSTANTLY FIRE SEVEN SHOTS
TOWARD HIS BACK AT POINT BLANK
RANGE.
BUT WHAT I SEE IS AN INCIDENT
THAT STARTED AS A DOMESTIC
DISPUTE.
IT’S ALREADY BEEN ALLOWED TO
SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL, SO HE’S
WALKING AROUND THE CAR, JACOB
BLAKE IS, AWAY FROM THE POLICE
OFFICERS AND THE OFFICERS ARE
TRAILING HIM WITH THEIR GUNS
DRAWN, POINTED AT HIM, WHAT IN
THE WORLD -- HOW DO YOU GET FROM
DOMESTIC DISPUTE TO THAT?
HE DOESN’T HAVE A WEAPON, HE’S
NOT THREATENING THE OFFICERS IN
ANY WAY AT THAT MOMENT THAT WE
CAN SEE.
YOU KNOW, I SEE A REASON -- A
REASON FOR WHY BLACK LIVES
MATTER IS ONE OF THE GREAT
THEMES OF THIS YEAR.
AND WHY IT’S GOING TO STICK
AROUND.
IT’S GOING TO CONTINUE TO BE
NEAR THE FOREFRONT OF OUR
CONSCIOUSNESS, BECAUSE THINGS
LIKE THIS KEEP HAPPENING.
THERE’S JUST NO -- YOU KNOW, A
DOMESTIC DISPUTE AND IT ENDS
THAT WAY.
THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE
MINDSET THAT WENT INTO THAT
ENCOUNTER.
THE MINDSET ON THE PART OF THE
POLICE THAT WENT INTO THAT
ENCOUNTER THAT LET IT GET TO
THAT POINT AND IT’S A TRAGIC
ONE.
>> JONATHAN, JACOB BLAKE IS IN
SERIOUS CONDITION, WE HOPE HE’S
DOING BETTER, HOPE TO GOD HE
SURVIVES THAT SHOOTING.
MENTIONED HIS THREE CHILDREN,
AGES 3, 5 AND 8 INSIDE THAT
VEHICLE WHEN THE SHOOTING TOOK
PLACE.
IT’S INTERESTING, AS YOU WATCH
THAT VIDEO AND THE SCENE UNFOLD
IN KENOSHA, WISCONSIN, AND YOU
LISTEN TO THE SPEECHES LAST
NIGHT IN THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL
CONVENTION AND IT WAS ABOUT
CITIES ON FIRE.
THAT’S ALWAYS BEEN SORT OF
DONALD TRUMP’S TAKEAWAY IN THE
MOVEMENT WE’VE SEEN FOR RACIAL
JUSTICE IN THE STREETS IN THAT
IT IS ANTI-POLICE AND LEADS TO
LOOTING.
WE HEARD ABOUT THAT LAST NIGHT,
CITIES ON FIRE RATHER THAN
FOCUSSING ON THE MESSAGE AND WHY
PEOPLE ARE FOCUSED ON SCENES
LIKE WE SAW IN KENOSHA.
>> BEFORE WE CAME ON, I WAS
READING OUR STORY IN "THE
WASHINGTON POST" ABOUT THE
CONVENTION AND THIS LINE FROM
MRS. McCLOSKEY’S SPEECH LEAPT
OUT AT ME.
SHE SAID WHEN WE DON’T HAVE
BASIC SAFETY AND SECURITY IN OUR
COMMUNITIES WE’LL NEVER BE FREE
TO BUILD A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR
OURSELVES, FOR OUR CHILDREN, OR
FOR OUR COUNTRY.
WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THE BLAKE
FAMILY?
WHY DOESN’T THAT APPLY TO THOSE
THREE CHILDREN IN THE BACKSEAT
OF THAT CAR?
WHY DOESN’T IT APPLY TO THAT
COMMUNITY?
WHY DOESN’T IT APPLY TO THE
FAMILIES OF TAMIR RICE AND AHMED
ARBERY, BREONNA TAYLOR, WHY DOESN’T THAT SENTIMENT THAT THE
DOESN’T THAT SENTIMENT THAT THE
McCLOSKEYS THUNDERED DURING
THEIR SPEECH APPLY TO BLACK
AMERICANS, ESPECIALLY SINCE WE
WERE BROUGHT HERE IN 1619 HAVE
BEEN LIVING UNDER THE SAME
THREAT, THE SAME FEAR, AND YET
THE McCLOSKEYS, THE PRESIDENT,
REPUBLICAN PARTY SEEMED WILLING
TO TURN A BLIND EYE TO PEOPLE
WHO ARE SCARED AND TIRED.
TIRED OF BEING HUNTED.
AND THAT IS WHAT WE SAW IN THAT
VIDEO OF WHAT HAPPENED TO JACOB
BLAKE.
AND THAT’S WHY, WATCHING THE
CONVENTION SPEECHES LAST NIGHT
WAS LIKE WATCHING A SIGNAL COME
IN FROM EARTH 2.
THAT FOR FOLKS WHO WERE GIVING
THOSE SPEECHES AND FOR THE
REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE
THE THINGS THAT WE’RE TALKING
ABOUT RIGHT NOW DON’T EXIST.
OR AREN’T EVEN IMPORTANT.
AND IT IS BEYOND TROUBLING TO ME
THAT, YOU KNOW, THE PRESIDENT
CAN GET AWAY WITH SPEAKING
SOLELY TO HIS NARROW BASE, YET
THE DEMOCRATS WOULD HAVE BEEN
WILDLY CRITICIZED IF THEY HAD
NOT TAKEN THE TIME DURING THEIR
CONVENTION TO REACH OUT BEYOND
THEIR BASE, WHICH IS EXACTLY
WHAT THEY DID.
WE’VE GOT THREE MORE NIGHTS OF
WHAT WE SAW LAST NIGHT.
AND WHAT HAPPENED TO MR. BLAKE
AND WHAT WE’RE GOING TO SEE OVER
THE COURSE OF THE REPUBLICAN
CONVENTION ARE TWO -- NOT TWO
DIFFERENT AMERICAS, TWO
COMPLETELY DIFFERENT REALITIES.
>> TWO DIFFERENT SETS OF
REALITIES.
ONE OF THE REALITIES, BY THE
WAY, IS OVERWHELMINGLY SUPPORTED
BY 25% OF AMERICANS, WHICH AGAIN
IF YOU LOOK AT ALL THE POLLS
THIS SUMMER SINCE THE DEATH OF GEORGE FLOYD, DONALD TRUMP HAS
GEORGE FLOYD, DONALD TRUMP HAS
BEEN TRYING TO STOKE RACIAL
ANIMOUS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE
TALKING ABOUT THE FIERCE DOGS
THAT WERE GOING TO GO OUT AND
EAT PROTESTERS OR HOWEVER HE
SAID IT, TALKING ABOUT THE
INCREDIBLE FORCE USED AGAINST
PROTESTERS, TALKING ABOUT RIOTS
REMEMBER THE ONE HE STARTED ON
JUNE THE 1ST, THAT WAS VERY
FASCINATING THAT A PRESIDENT
WOULD START A RIOT IN LAFAYETTE
SQUARE SO HE COULD HOLD A BIBLE
UPSIDE DOWN IN FRONT OF THE
PRESIDENT’S CHURCH -- ST. JOHN’S
CHURCH, NOT THIS PRESIDENT’S
CHURCH BUT THE CHURCH OF
PRESIDENTS.
BUT YEAH, THIS IS ANOTHER
EXAMPLE OF THE 75/25 WORLD THAT
DONALD TRUMP AND DONALD TRUMP’S
REPUBLICAN PARTY LIVES IN.
IF YOU LOOK AT EVERY SINGLE
POLL, WHAT THEY TRY TO DO IS TRY
TO BRUSH PAST GEORGE FLOYD BEING
MURDERED.
THEY TRY TO BRUSH PAST THE
SHOOTING YESTERDAY IN WISCONSIN.
THEY TRY TO IGNORE THE PEACEFUL
PROTESTERS THERE.
AND THEN, YES, THEY FIND THE
PEOPLE WHO ARE UNDERMINING THE
LEGACY OF JOHN LEWIS WHO RESORT
TO VIOLENCE.
IT’S THAT SIMPLE.
THEY TRY TO PUSH ASIDE THINGS
THAT ARE UNCONFIDENTABLEMFORTABL
AND JUST FIND THE WORSE ACTIONS
OF PEOPLE AND SAY, LOOK, WHITE
PEOPLE IN THE SUBURBS, THEY’RE
COMING TO GET YOU NEXT.
BLACK PEOPLE GET SHOT IN THE
BACK AND DONALD TRUMP’S MESSAGE
IS, WATCH OUT, WHITE PEOPLE,
THEY’RE COMING FOR YOUR