Carson: Recognition ‘a Thug Is a Thug’ Part of Needed Discussion on Policing

On Monday’s “The O’Reilly Factor” on the Fox News Channel, former Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon Ben Carson discussed the recent police controversies that have captured national attention and have led to questions about local police across the country.

Carson proposed “meaningful discussions,” part of which calls on both side acknowledging flaws. However, he particularly pointed out the need for communities to recognize that misdeeds have consequences.

“I think we need to have some meaningful discussions but we cannot have those unless both sides make some admissions,” Carson said. “The police and the group in authority have to admit that, you know, it’s not perfect and maybe there are some other things to look at. I’m very encouraged by the general agreement that body cameras would be good. Also, the community has to recognize that a thug is a thug. And, you know, when people do bad things, there are consequences for those. And, you know, it’s very disingenuous when you come up and take somebody who is doing illegal things and try to make them into a hero. What message does that send? When you have a legitimate gripe nobody is going to listen to you. We really cannot be doing things like that if we want to make progress.”

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