New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has now come out and blamed President Trump for the ongoing riots that have been plaguing the country in multiple cities across the country this past week. After the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, people in that city took to the streets to protest the injustice. Not long after the protests started, protesters started attacking local businesses, setting fire to them, and looting them. This behavior started in Minnesota and has inspired other cities to do protests of their own. The protests have started out peaceful then quickly turned to violence, even hitting close to home here in Boston.
This is the statement from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio blaming President Trump for the eruption of protests that have turned violent.
Is President Trump to blame for the actions of Officer Derek Chauvin in Minnesota? No, how could he be blamed for that? Is there injustice happening? Yes. Is there racial issues within our criminal justice system? Yes. Do we need to make change? Yes. But is it overall the President's blame to carry? No. Now should the President address the injustice and tell those that feel discriminated against on a daily basis that he hears them and is going to work in various ways towards making the system a fairer system for everyone? Yes. At the same time though, we cannot respond to discrimination with more discrimination and movements like the "ACAB movement". That is unacceptable.
If you want to voice your opinion towards injustice and protest, you have a right to do that and I respect that expression in standing up for what you believe when something atrocious happens like the death of George Floyd. Now, I think that protest should be done in a respectful, peaceful way that shows you're out there speaking up and making your voice heard. However when that protest turns violent and people start burning down their communities, hurting the livelihood of your neighbors when it comes to destroying and looting small businesses, and lashing out at cops by throwing Molotov cocktails at police cruisers, verbally harassing, and getting physical, that's unacceptable and that's where you lose me. Furthermore I say again, you can't meet discrimination with more discrimination and try and start discrimination movements like "ACAB", which stands for "All Cops Are Bastards". That is not right. Are there bad cops? Yes, absolutely. Are there bad people? Yes. Now, what we need to figure out and I don't have all the answers, is how do we get the criminals in police clothing off the force? To say that all cops are "bastards" is just asinine and ignorant. The terrible cops give the rest of them a bad name and quite frankly endanger their lives with their actions that lead to these riots. There are good cops and we need to get rid of the bad ones and we're not going to do that by rioting. For the life of me I will never understand how destroying your community is achieving justice for what you are protesting. That's not how you effect change. You take it to the voting booths, you elect someone that will affect change right within the system. You hold peaceful protests or rallies voicing your opinion and starting a "movement" and that movement SHOULD NOT include violence or discrimination. Use your voice not your hands.
-Producer Lightning