Black Lives Matter protesters “started being lifted up as, ‘These folks are opposed to the police, they are opposed to cops, all lives matter, ‘” Obama said. Speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Christie said Black Lives Matter is “creating” an environment, as a few of its supporters have chanted for the death of police.
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Tritobia Ford said on Friday that she doesn’t always agree with the tactics of Black Lives Matter members but supports the cause. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey said something interesting, he suggested that police across the country may be more reluctant to crackdown on crime because of what’s the so-called Ferguson Effect- named after the Michael Brown murder in Ferguson, Missouri.
“They’re not calling for the murder of police officers”, host John Dickerson said, interrupting Christie.
Dickerson then asked if Black Lives Matter should not be justified. They’ve also called for a series of mayoral town hall meetings with more public give and take, as well as increased input from South L.A. residents on appointments to city commissions.
CHRISTIE: Sure they are.
DICKERSON: Well, individuals have.
According to the New Jersey governor, the president’s embrace of Black Lives Matter was just a symptom of his lawlessness, which Christie said included sanctuary cities. That’s what the movement is creating. President Barack Obama last week defended the Black Lives Matter movement, noting protests are giving voice to an issue occurring exclusively in African-American communities. “And the reality is no one I know who’s a part of the leadership, has ever endorsed the killing of police officers”. “And we can cite instance after instance”. But at the same token, he wants people to “understand the overwhelming majority of law enforcement’s are doing the right thing and wants to do the right thing” and “recognize that police officers have a really tough job and we’re sending them into really tough neighborhoods that sometimes are really risky and they’ve got to make split-second decisions”. They need to be backed up.
The president spoke Thursday at a White House forum on the problem of police violence among African-American communities, defending the movement as something that “we, as a society, particularly given our history, have to take this seriously”.
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“When there are bad cops, they need to be prosecuted, like there are bad lawyers and bad doctors and bad engineers, they all need to be prosecuted when they see something wrong”, he added.
