The president of Greater New York Black Lives Matter said that if the movement fails to achieve meaningful change during nationwide protests over George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police officers, it will “burn down this system.”
“If this country doesn’t give us what we want, then we will burn down this system and replace it. All right? And I could be speaking figuratively. I could be speaking literally. It’s a matter of interpretation,” Hawk Newsome said during an interview Wednesday evening on “The Story” with Martha MacCallum.
“Let’s be very real,” he told the Fox News host. “Let’s observe the history of the 1960s, when black people were rioting. We had the highest growth in wealth, in property ownership. Think about the last few weeks since we started protesting. There have been eight cops fired across the country.”
He said in past incidents involving fatal encounters with citizens, police officers were always allowed due process, but when people begin to destroy property, things change.
“What is this country rewarding? What behavior is it listening to? Obviously not marching. But when people get aggressive and they escalate their protests, cops get fired, Republican politicians talking about police reform,” he said.
“I don’t condone nor do I condemn rioting,” Newsome continued. “But I’m just telling you what I observed.”
MacCallum asked Newsome what Black Lives Matter hoped to achieve through violence.
“Wow, it’s interesting that you would pose that question like that,” Newsome responded, “because this country is built upon violence. What was the American Revolution? What’s our diplomacy across the globe?”
“We go in and we blow up countries and we replace their leaders with leaders who we like. So for any American to accuse us of being violent is extremely hypocritical,” Newsome added.
The unrest has continued across the country since Floyd’s death on May 25, with the marchers calling for police reforms.
But the protests have sometimes turned violent, with looting and arson.
The protesters have also targeted monuments and statues, including those of Confederate soldiers and the Founding Fathers, spray-painting them with graffiti and pulling them to the ground.
Newsome said the movement is about “saving lives” and it should be praised for supporting the Second Amendment.
“Nobody’s talking about ambushing police officers. We’re talking about protecting lives,” he said. “There’s nothing more American than that. We talk about uplifting and upholding the Second Amendment. I think you should be applauding me, seeing how you guys are huge supporters of the Second Amendment.”
“But it seems to be the hypocrisy of America that when black people start talking about arming themselves and defending themselves, [that] talk is ‘violent.’ But when white people grab assault rifles and go to our nation’s, their state capitals, it’s all good,” he said.
As the interview concluded, Newsome added, “I just want black liberation, and black sovereignty. By any means necessary.”