>>> THIS WEEK AT A HEARING ON
CAPITOL HILL FOR ATTORNEY
GENERAL BILL BARR, REPUBLICAN
CONGRESSMAN FROM OHIO JIM JORDAN
USED A TIGHTLY EDITED CLIP OF ME
TO MAKE A POINT.
HE RAN A CLIP THAT DID NOT
CONTAIN PROPER CONTEXT.
WE KNOW WHAT REPUBLICAN
CONGRESSMAN JIM JORDAN WAS DOING
THERE.
HE WAS PAINTING A PICTURE OF
CHAOS, INDISCRIMINATE VIOLENCE.
PAINTING A PICTURE OF THE MEDIA
USING ME AS AN EXAMPLE OF
CONDONING THE VIOLENCE IN THE
STREETS OF AMERICA.
THE CONTEXT IS KEY.
HERE IS A FULLER CLIP OF MY OWN
REPORT OF WHICH HE USED A SMALL
BIT OUT OF CONTEXT.
>> FOR MOST OF THE DAY TODAY IT
WAS A LOT CALMER THAN YESTERDAY
LOOKED.
THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY.
IT PICKED UP LATER IN THE
EVENING, THE CROWDS GATHERED
HERE.
THE STANDOFF WITH THE POLICE
LOOKED DIFFERENT LAST NIGHT.
POLICE HAD LINED UP -- THERE
WERE BARRICADES OUTSIDE THE
POLICE STATION, POLICE LINED UP
AROUND IT AND PREVENTED
PROTESTERS FROM GETTING CLOSE.
OVERNIGHT THEY PUT UP FENCES AND
BARRICADES SO THAT PEOPLE
COULDN’T GET THERE.
THAT’S WHAT BROKE THROUGH.
IT CAUSED A NEW CENTER OF FOCUS
FOR THE PROTESTERS.
THE IDEA THAT THEY WOULD THEN --
THEY WOULD THEN TRY AND TAKE
THAT POLICE STATION FROM THE
POLICE.
AGAIN, WE WERE SURPRISED TO FIND
OUT THAT THERE WERE POLICE
ACTUALLY IN THAT BUILDING.
BUT THERE WERE.
ABOUT FIVE POLICE WHO CAME OUT.
THEY HAD THEIR WEAPONS WITH THEM
THAT FIRED THE -- THAT FIRED THE
GAS CANISTERS AND IT DISPERSED
THE CROWD WHICH CAME THIS WAY
AND STARTED THIS ACTIVITY AND A
FIRE THAT OCCURRED OVER THERE.
AGAIN, THERE ARE FIRES, AT LEAST
FOUR FIRES THAT I CAN SEE.
AND THAT’S JUST IN THIS SMALL
RADIUS THAT MORGAN AND I ARE IN.
OBVIOUSLY SOME OF THEM ARE
ACTIVE.
THIS ONE IS NOW OBVIOUSLY
SPREADING TO THE BUILDINGS ON
EITHER SIDE OF IT.
THE LIQUOR STORE AND THE SHOP TO
THE LEFT.
THERE’S NO ABILITY -- I THINK WE
HAVE TO REMEMBER THIS, THE
NATIONAL GUARD HAS BEEN
ACTIVATED.
THE THEY ARE NOT HERE.
THE POLICE ARE NOT HERE.
THE POLICE EVACUATED.
THE FIRE ENGINES CAN’T GET IN
HERE.
THERE’S NO ABILITY TO BRING
ANYBODY IN HERE TO SOLVE THIS
PROBLEM.
SO I WANT TO BE CLEAR IN HOW I
CHARACTERIZE THIS, THIS IS
MOSTLY A PROTEST, IT IS NOT
GENERALLY SPEAKING UNRULY.
BUT FIRES HAVE BEEN STARTED AND
THERE’S A CROWD THAT’S RELISHING
THAT.
THERE’S A DEEP SENSE OF
GRIEVANCE AND COMPLAINT HERE.
AND THAT IS THE THING.
WHEN YOU DISCOUNT PEOPLE WHO ARE
DOING THINGS TO PUBLIC PROPERTY
THAT THEY SHOULDN’T BE DOING, IT
DOES HAVE TO BE UNDERSTOOD THIS
CITY HAS GOT FOR THE LAST
SEVERAL YEARS AN ISSUE WITH
POLICE, AND IT’S GOT A REAL
SENSE OF THE DEEP SENSE OF
GRIEVANCE OF INEQUALITY.
YOU MENTIONED EARLIER, BEFORE WE
HAD VIDEO, HOW DID WE KNOW ABOUT
THESE THINGS IN.
NOW WE HAVE VIDEO.
THE PEOPLE TALKING TO ME, I’M
NOT A INVESTIGATOR AND I DON’T
HAVE ACCESS TO THE INFORMATION
THAT INVESTIGATORS HAVE, THEY
SAY WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED.
JIM JORDAN RAN 20 SECONDS OUT OF
THAT OUT OF CONTEXT.
MY COLLEAGUES AND I HAVE NOT
BEEN BLINDLY WATCHING THESE
OUTBREAKS OF VIOLENCE AND TRYING
TO KEEP THEM FROM THE PUBLIC IN
SOME PERVERSE ATTEMPT TO PORTRAY
THINGS AS PEACEFUL WHEN THEY ARE
NOT.
WHAT WE’VE DONE AND WE’LL
CONTINUE TO DO IS PROVIDE THE
FULL PICTURE OF WHAT’S GOING ON.
AS WE SAW IN OREGON, FEDERAL
TROOPS USED TEAR GAS ON PEACEFUL
VETERANS AND MOTHERS.
IN MINNEAPOLIS, THE POLICE SHOT
RUBBER BULLETS AND JOURNALISTS
AND PROTESTERS, MYSELF INCLUDED.
I GOT HIT.
PEOPLE THEN AS ONE WOULD EXPECT
REACTED.
I RECOGNIZE THAT PROTESTS AND
REVOLUTION IN MANY WAYS CANNOT
ALWAYS BE NONVIOLENT IN NATURE.
THE TWO SIDES CLASH.
WE’VE SEEN IT IN SOUTH AFRICA,
THE MIDDLE EAST, INDIA, EVEN IN
OUR OWN HISTORY WHERE WE STARTED
A WAR FOCUSED ON GUERRILLA
TACTICS AT LEXINGTON AND CONCORD
TO GAIN OUR INDEPENDENCE.
THE UPTICK IN CRIME WE’RE SEEING
NOW IS UNRELATED TO THESE
PROTESTS.
IT’S A SYMPTOM OF OUR ECONOMIC
INEQUALITY, THE PANDEMIC, THE
ONGOING RECESSION, THE LACK OF
GUN CONTROL AND OUR CRIMINAL
JUSTICE SYSTEM.
SKON
CONTEXT MATTERS.
CONTEXT IS KEY.
I AND MY COLLEAGUES WILL NOT SIT
HERE AND TELL YOU THIS IS NOT A
MOMENT OF UPHEAVAL.
I’LL GIVE YOU THE FACTS, THE CON
TEX AND THE UNDERSTANDING TO
KNOW WHY THIS IS SUCH A KRUBL
MOMENT
CRUCIAL MOMENT IN TIME AND WHY