US police acting against blacks by definition: Activist

Press TV has interviewed Life Malcolm, with the Black People’s Advancement and Defense Organization, about the security situation in Milwaukee in the wake of protests against police brutality and the deployment of the US National Guard.

Read a rough transcription of the interview below.

Press TV: What’s the point and the significance of this deployment of the National Guard? We saw in Ferguson when the National Guard was deployed, it actually added to the tension out on the streets. Will this help or hurt the situation in this city?

Malcolm: Of course, it can only hurt the situation in the city. Instead of calling for some activation of more military, what this governor should do is call for a de-activation of this militarization of this police force, who is responsible for murdering this guy.

I mean even if a so-called citizen has a weapon, that citizen, if indeed he is a citizen, has the right according to the constitution to [a] trial by [a] jury, not to be executed by some cop who has been on the force, I think, for six years or something like that. That’s not how they’re supposed to go according to the constitution.

So, yes, it should be less militarization not more militarization. More militarization can only add to the problem.

Press TV: We’ve seen [that] numerous protests over the last couple of years over police violence against men of color lead to little or no change in legislation to try to counter the current police culture in the US. Your thoughts?

Malcolm: Because it’s not just the police culture, it’s the way the police function. I’ve said it before on Press TV, the police are the domestic military of the United States. They are the front line of the criminal business system of the United States of America. They are functioning how they’re supposed to. The system is not broken; it is working the way it’s supposed to. The thing is it works against black people. It works against the interests of black people and other minorities as well.

And it is the responsibility of those of us who are ill-affected by this system to do what we must do in order to not be victimized by this police brutality that the government refuses to stop. 

Press TV: And we’ve seen [that] some of these protests turned violent, not to mention we’ve seen retaliatory attacks against police themselves. Now strong resistance seems to be brewing up against police in some states as people seem frustrated that this problem has not been properly addressed. Now what needs to take place in order to keep this thing from escalating out of control?

Malcolm: Well, the thing is I don’t know that it’s frustration, I don’t know that it can be considered retaliation. I think that is intelligent to protect yourself; that’s what the police always say; when they shoot somebody or they kill somebody, they’re doing it to protect themselves and people seem to be able to get behind that idea.

I think it is intelligent for a person to protect themselves. And since voting, as you have said in this program... that legislation has not helped the situation, so, voting at the ballot box has not changed it but as Malcolm X told us in like April of 1964, there is more than one way to vote, there is the ballot and the bullet. And so, since the ballot has not been working, it seems that more and more people are choosing the bullet to perhaps have their voices heard a bit more clearly.

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