MSNBC host Tiffany Cross said Thursday on “Live” that those who claim black people like Daunte Wright fleeing during his encounter with police caused his own death were the manifestation of “the practice of white supremacy.”
Cross went on to say so-called white supremacy was “still deeply woven in this country.”
Civil rights attorney Brian Dunn said, “These are a lot of things that are unconscious. They work on people from the dark recesses of their mind. The idea of escalation anxiety is omnipresent. We have to say this goes both ways. Yes, we don’t want the officers to use deadly force. They have historically been all too quick to do that. But at the same time, I was taught by my father to never run because they’ll kill you. The idea is it doesn’t make it the fault of the person that’s being shot for getting killed. It doesn’t say that. They shouldn’t be killed at all. At the same time, we have to understand the way these situations play out is it is frenetic energy on top of frenetic energy. We have to teach our boys that any encounter with a police officer can quickly degenerate into a deadly encounter if they lose their cool or if they do anything that is a provocative act. No, it’s not right. It doesn’t make it right. It’s reality.”
Cross said, “I think that the practice of white supremacy is still deeply woven in this country when you have the oppressed adopting the talking points of the oppressors. First of all, this is a 20-year-old kid. Imagine what he has experienced and seen in his lifetime to have these law enforcement officers put him in handcuffs. He was fearful. He came up during the time of Trayvon Martin, Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, countless names and faces who we have seen die at the hands of law enforcement. But somehow we want to put the onus on this kid. Multiple police officers armed with guns and tasers. They had this kid’s license plate. They had his license. They had his registration. They could have found him easily. Somehow the conversation has turned to what could this kid have done to prevent his own death? Why is the onus on us to stay alive when encountering the police?”
She continued, “I have seen police officers deescalate with irate, angry white people more than I can remember, but the treatment of this kid just existing is a threat. I hope people don’t take away from this segment that somehow the blame is at the foot of the victim. And no, in no other circumstance do we say that. In no other circumstance do we say this person caused their own death. I refuse to say that here and now.”
Cross added. “I would just follow up to the point I made before because I think there are a lot of people who are outside the community who have the temerity to make some of these comments and say, you know, why aren’t people happy with this justice? This is what you’ve all been marching for. Like minutes after this happened, we saw Ma’Khia Bryant in Columbus gunned down by a police officer. I know these are all different circumstances, and maybe the Betty and Don Drapers of the world don’t have to experience that. But, then I hear people say this is justice, and everybody should be happy now, it’s just not. I think how dare anyone try to present this as though this child did something wrong. Kyle Rittenhouse was a 17-year-old kid walking around with a weapon and getting congratulated and an attaboy from police officers. This kid was just trying to get home. I refuse to put any blame on this kid.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN