ANNOUNCER: Now from CBS4 News,
this is "Facing South
Florida" with Jim Defede.
Good morning, and welcome
to "Facing South Florida".
The democratic national
convention wrapped up this week
and Democrats believe they
did what they needed to do.
In some ways,
the lack of an audience
worked to their advantage
allowing speakers like
Michelle Obama, Jill Biden,
Kamala Harris,
and even Joe Biden
to connect to viewers
in a solemnity
that matches this
moment in history.
But the convention
will long be remembered
for Barack Obama speech,
in which he made the case
that nothing less than
our very democracy
is at stake in this election
all while Donald Trump was
hate tweeting the
event in real time,
and in all caps.
There are of course
other critical races.
Later we will hear from
Congresswoman Debbie
Mucarsel-Powell,
who is running for re-election
against Carlos Jimenez
who proudly embraces
president Trump,
who eagerly endorsed
the County mayor.
First, however, I
wanna introduce you
to the man who almost
certainly will be
Broward County's
next state attorney.
Harold Pryor, who won the
democratic primary on Tuesday.
To let everyone know about me.
My name is Harold Pryor.
I'm a proud husband.
I'm a proud father.
I'm a proud attorney.
I'm also a fifth
generation Floridian.
I was born and
raised in Florida.
I've experienced the
criminal justice system
from so many different
vantage points.
I grew up in a
rough neighborhood,
but I was the only
kid in my neighborhood
that had both my mother
and my father on the block.
And so that had a
profound effect on me.
I've had family members
who were brutally killed.
We saw criminal justice
system treat them less them.
I've had family members who had
mental health issues,
drug addiction issues,
and we saw our
criminal justice system
demonize and criminalize them,
rather than actually get
them the help that they need.
I worked hard in high school,
excelled in
academics and sports.
I then went to the
university of Florida.
And then after graduating
from university of Florida,
I went to Nova Law, right
down here in Fort Lauderdale,
and I think I loved it
a little bit too much,
met my wife and decided
to stay down here.
So tell me a little
bit more about
when you say grew up in
a rough neighborhood,
had family members who've
been shot and killed.
Can you give us a little bit
more sense of that experience,
and how you think it shapes you
as you move forward today.
Well, growing up in
that type of environment
I can only tell you
from my life experience,
you either succumb
to the pressures
that are around you, right?
Or you decide that you're gonna
do something to change it.
From the age of 14 all the
way up until two years ago,
I've lost friends and family
members to gun violence.
I lost a cousin, a first cousin
of mine, to gun violence.
He was brutally murdered,
and another one of my
cousins who was also with him
he was shot, he was in
a coma for a few days,
and he came out and recovered
after a few months later.
And so gun violence
has decimated
so many communities here
in the state of Florida,
but also in the country
and also given the Marjory
Stoneman Douglas massacre.
And so I've experienced
that. I understand.
I know what it feels like to go
to a personal close
friend's funeral,
or a loved one funeral,
and all due to the
evils of gun violence.
And so that's had a
profound effect on me.
It's had an effect on me in
wanting to go to law school.
I went to law school
not to make money
or be a high powered attorney.
It was actually
to make a change.
And so that was why I
became a prosecutor.
I learned very early
on from an early age
all the way into law school,
that prosecutors state attorneys
have an incredible power.
They have the power to decide
sometimes life and death.
They have the power to determine
if someone can have a
second or third chance.
They have the power to determine
if we're going to give
children a second chance.
They have an
opportunity to eradicate
the school to prison pipeline.
And so my life experiences
have influenced me
all the way up until this point.
And I think it's awesome.
And I think it's
great that we can have
state attorneys that
have that perspective,
that have that little
real life perspective.
That could bring it
to the courtroom,
that can bring it to the
state attorney's office
and impart that information
upon the subordinates
to ensure that we're
initiating this ground-level
criminal justice reform
we're talking about,
but also doing that
without compromising
the safety of our communities.
What was the impetus?
What made you decide
to get into this race?
It was a combination
of a lot of things.
It was a combination
of my life experiences,
what I talked about earlier,
but also the Vince
of Trayvon Martin.
The issue of police brutality
throughout the country,
the mass incarceration issue
that we've seen in this country
and not just the mass
incarceration issue,
but the sentencing
disparities based on race.
That had a profound
effect on me,
and I looked at the
world around me.
I looked at myself
and saw that I had
particular a skill set
and talents and gifts,
and I just felt that
I couldn't waste it
in a time like this.
I was compelled to get involved.
I was compelled to
throw my hat in the ring
because everyone's talking
about criminal justice reform,
but not many have
actually experienced it,
and not many can do it
responsibly like I can.
And I actually understand
our communities
and how we need
to initiate that.
When I served at the
state attorney's office,
I worked hard to ensure that
I utilize my discretion,
that I utilize my common sense.
I utilize sound reason
and analytical skills
to ensure that we
had the right outcome
in a particular case.
I can say I went to sleep
every night comfortably knowing
that every day I
did the right thing,
or I pursued to
do the right thing
and that justice was
sought in every outcome.
I often say, and I always
said then as prosecutor,
that it wasn't
about wins or losses
when I took the case to trial.
It was either guilty
or not guilty.
And sometimes justice
is a not guilty verdict.
Sometimes justice
is a guilty verdict.
Sometimes justice is us just
outright dropping a case
because the facts aren't there.
Now, there're some people
who will listen to this
will hear what you're saying
and think to themselves,
that's not what I want
in a state attorney.
I want a state attorney who's
looking for blood every day.
I want to say to attorney
who's gonna go in there,
and fight the bad guys
in a way that will do,
that will protect us,
that will worry more
about the victims
than worrying about the
rights of the criminals.
Well, I think that's the
common misconception.
Look, I say this all the time.
It don't matter
where you grew up.
Doesn't matter
your walk of life,
your race, color,
gender, or creed.
We all want safer
communities, right?
Let's be clear on that.
Doesn't matter if you
live in lighthouse point.
Doesn't matter if you
live in Fort Lauderdale,
Pompano Beach, Sistrunk, or
what have you Allendale beach,
we all want safer communities.
And so as an ex state attorney,
I acknowledge that
we have a system
that has been
traditionally stacked
against people of
color and poor people,
but also we have to have
a criminal justice system
that comports with justice,
fairness, and equality.
I wanna initiate ground
level criminal justice reform
while not compromising the
safety of our communities.
That's two part.
So we have this thing
we've been talking about
throughout the country,
criminal justice reform,
but many people forget
that we have to ensure that
we have the safety of our
communities as a paramount goal.
And so I want to initiate this
ground level criminal
justice reform,
but I wanna do it responsibly.
I wanna do it prudently,
and I wanna ensure that we're
keeping our community safe.
Do you believe there
is systemic racism
both in terms of the
criminal justice system,
and in terms of
the court system,
as well as the
police departments?
Yes, I do.
And I think we're taking
the steps to fix that.
It's one thing for
us to sit there
and point fingers at each other,
and say that there is racism
or there isn't racism.
It's another thing for us to
actually just get in there
and try to do the
work to figure it out.
And there's ways that
we can do that Jim.
I think we have to
implement and incorporate
robust implicit and racial
bias training programs,
both in law enforcement and in
the state attorney's offices
and also in our public
defender's offices.
Tell me something about yourself
that people might
be surprised by.
Let's see.
I'm pretty boring,
but I love sports.
I'm a competitive sports guy.
I played high school football.
I was pretty good at it.
I was offered
several scholarships
around the country
to play football.
I was offered a
partial scholarship
to play football at the
university of Florida.
So that's not embarrassing.
I didn't to finish
or play on a football team.
What was your position?
What did you play?
I was a strong safety.
I played defense and back,
and also I played linebacker
and some running
back in high school.
Didn't get an
opportunity to finish it
through at university
of Florida.
So when you're back there,
so a strong safety
and your back there.
We're gonna make a hit.
So talk to me about,
mentally how does that
apply you think today
to what you're gonna
be having to do?
Yeah, so when I played football
and especially
playing defensive back
on the defensive side or ball
you're taught to be aggressive,
but you had to be smart, right?
As a safety normally
you're the last line
of defense back there.
You're trying to defend a pass,
or if there's a running back
that's getting crossed
the line of scrimmage.
you're oftentimes the
last line of defense.
And so you have to be smart,
but you also have
to be aggressive.
And I think those are qualities
that you need as your
next state attorney.
Four years ago,
the criminal justice system
in Broward was run by
a white male public defender,
a white male state attorney,
and a white male sheriff.
Today, all three
of those positions
are now going to be held
after November by black men.
Yeah.
It's an historic moment.
What do you think it says
about Broward County?
It says that it has
changed. The time is now!
I think the time is now for
those members of a
marginalized community
to be able to stand
up and speak up,
and take ownership
and take leadership.
But also it's saying that
many of our white counterparts
they're open to the idea of
having a diverse leadership,
and that they truly feel
that we're qualified
and able to take the lead
in some of these positions.
It's an exciting time.
I think it's a great time,
and it's a great showing
for Broward County
of the diversity that we have.
And I truly believe
we need to have more women in
leadership in Broward County.
And I'll tell you this much,
I hope that the next state
attorney in Broward County
when I'm done is a woman.
And I will advocate for that.
And we need more women of
power in Broward County
and we need more diversity.
And diversity is a good thing.
It's not a bad thing.
When we come back, Congresswoman