Congressman Gregory Meeks (D-NY) argued that 99% of the demonstrators who have taken to the streets in the wake of the Mike Brown and Eric Garner deaths are “with the police” on Friday’s “Ronan Farrow Daily” on MSNBC.
“No one, no one who is really part of the movement of the demonstrators believe[s] and/or condones the assassination of these police officers” he declared.
After Meeks was asked about some of the anti-police rhetoric and chants that took place, he responded “those are fringe individuals, you know, for example someone reminded me that there was, not too long ago, in Pennsylvania, there was a depraved guy that shot and killed a police officer and then it took them a long time to get him. But you didn’t blame everybody that was pro-gun or anti-government on that. So, you can’t blame the demonstrators who are 99% with the police, understand it but they want justice in this case. You can’t blame them for the acts of an individual who, based upon his own sister, said he needed mental healthcare. He had a mental problem, and so those other individuals who make those statements, we are not condoning that, we’re not with them, in fact, they’re not with the movement. They’re against the movement.”
Regarding the protesters and counter-demonstrations by police in New York, he argued there should be a break in protesting, saying “I recognize the fact that people have the right to demonstrate. And we’ve urged them to demonstrate afterwards because it’s still about trying to make sure that there’s justice for everyone. But I also think though that police officers, particularly Mr. Lynch, who is the president of the PBA, you know, we have a higher standard of which we should be living by.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett