Charles Barkley got some flak for comments he made defending the police and Officer Darren Wilson in the wake of violence in Ferguson. Barkley elaborated on his views in a lengthy CNN interview on Tuesday night (12/02/14).
Barkley told Brooke Baldwin that he completely stands by calling rioters and looters “scumbags” because “when you’re looting people’s property, that’s what you are.” Baldwin asked if any of this would be happening if the officer was black. Barkley said no way.
In fact, Barkley observed, “we never discuss race until something bad happens.” He show down some of the more ridiculous notions being thrown out about the police and even said at one point, “We as black people––we’ve got a lot of crooks! There’s a reason they racially profile us at times. Sometimes it’s wrong and sometimes it’s right.”
He also expressed frustration with the “sad cast of characters” like Al Sharpton showing up every time a situation like this arises.
Barkley even weighed in on the case of Eric Garner, who was put in a fatal chokehold by an NYPD officer. The medical examiner ruled it homicide, but Barkley said that’s not what it was. “I don’t think they were trying to kill Mr. Garner,” he explained. “He was a big man and they were trying to get him down.”
Watch the videos below, via CNN:
Source:
staff