#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Bodycam Video released of Unarmed Black Man Shot More Than 60 Times by Akron Police

Episode Date: July 6, 2022

7.5.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Bodycam Video released of Unarmed Black Man Shot More Than 60 Times by Akron Police Shocking footage from a deadly police shooting in Ohio. Eight cops shot more than 90 rounds at an unarmed black man running away. Now the family of Jayland Walker is demanding answers. We'll speak with an Akron, Ohio, organizer about what has been happening in the city since the day Jayland died.  Brittney Griner is speaking out from Russia; in a heartfelt letter to the President of the United States, the WNBA Star pleads for the President to get her home.  And for our Marketplace segment, we'll speak with two entrepreneurs who are making it easy for college students to get beauty supplies.  Support RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered Venmo ☛https://venmo.com/rmunfiltered Zelle ☛ [e-mail] Annual or monthly recurring #BringTheFunk Fan Club membership via paypal ☛ https://rolandsmartin.com/rmu-paypal/ Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com #RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to it. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's Tuesday, July 5th, 2022. I'm Recy Colbert sitting in for Roland today. Here's what's coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered streaming live on the Black Star Network. Shocking footage from a deadly police shooting in Ohio. Eight cops shot more than 90 rounds at an unarmed black man running away. Now the family of Jalen Walker is demanding answers. We'll speak with an Akron, Ohio organizer about what has been

happening in the city since that day Jalen died. Brittany Griner is speaking out from Russia in a heartfelt letter to the president of the United States. The WNBA star pleads for the president to get her home. And for our Marketplace segment, we'll speak with two entrepreneurs who are making it easy for college students to get beauty supplies. It's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. Let's go. And when it breaks, he's right on time. It's Roland Martin, yeah. Rolling with Roland now. He's broke, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Roland Martin now.

Martin. Jalen Walker of Akron, Ohio, was unarmed when eight police officers shot over 90 rounds of ammunition with at least 60 hitting his body. The 25-year-old black man was running away from the police when he was shot. During Sunday's press conference, the mayor and police chief explained what happened before releasing 13 individual body cam videos of the incident. They say it all started on June 27th when police officers tried to pull over Jalen's car. Jalen led them on a chase and supposedly fired a gun from his vehicle. Jalen exited from the passenger side when the pursuit ended and ran away. What happens next is truly graphic, and I want to warn you, the video you are about to see is disturbing. Take a look. 602, I'm westbound Wilbeth and Firestone. Can I get in?

We're still westbound a little bit. We're passing Evergreen. We're heading towards Maine. Looks like we have some units up ahead at the intersection of Maine. He's slowing down here, slowing down. He's slowing down. Show me your fucking hands! Show me your hands now! Show me your fucking hands!

Show me your fucking hands! Show me your fucking hands! Show me your fucking hands! Show me your fucking hands! Show me your fucking hands! A weapon was recovered in Jalen's vehicle. Ray Green, Jr., the executive director of Freedom Block, is joining me now from Akron. Ray, thank you so much for being here. First of all, that footage was beyond disturbing. It's tough to watch, and this is just a scene that we see play out over and over again. But

the sheer number of firepower that was aimed at what we know was an unarmed Black man who started off in the traffic supposed violation pursuit. Can you just give me your reaction to the level of force that we saw and give us a sense of what's happening on site where you are. Yeah. Can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you. Thanks for having me. First of all, what you just witnessed was inhumane. No regard for human life, no regard for the family of that person, no regard for anything other than being able to get away with killing a human being, particularly a black human being is what we just witnessed. There's no rhyme or reason, no excuse you can give me for shooting at any human being,

shooting at any human being 90 times, let alone over a traffic stop. So what we're doing here on the ground right now is we're expressing our disgust and demanding change. And we have an exact understanding of what change needs to be had. And that's what you see on the ground happening here in Akron, Ohio. So can you give us a sense of the level of involvement with protests? I know I saw some reports yesterday. It wasn't as heavy as it had been in earlier days. Do you think that people are, you know, still very much engaged in what happened to Jalen and making sure that he gets justice? Or is it now starting to fall on organizers like yourself who keep the pressure on the police department and the mayor to

do something about what we saw? No, this is a holistic effort. We will continue to march, continue to protest, but also we will continue to strategize. And that's what we're doing today, continuing to strategize on our next steps. We have another rally coming up next Monday at the city council meeting, but we're going directly to power. That's not going to be always seen in the streets. Some of these things are going to happen behind closed doors, but the pressure is still up. People are still excited, but people also have to take some time to heal in between these protests and also strategize. And that's what you're seeing with some of the dying down.

It's just strategy and people healing from the day-to-day trauma. Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned that people still need time to regroup because, as I mentioned earlier in the introduction, there were a dozen mass shootings. There's so much that we're bombarded with in addition to just this level of violence. Can you give us a sense of what you guys are calling for next steps? We know that the police officers are on administrative leave. You know, are you guys calling for immediate firing or what is the next steps that are going to happen that you guys are pushing for right now? Yes. Well, yes, we have a two-year long-term plan for this particular shooting. But immediately what we want is unpaid

leave. We want these officers on unpaid leave. I shouldn't have to pay for these officers to take a vacation while the investigation happens. We're also asking for the resignation of our public safety director, Charles Brown, who grew up in the force, rose through the rank in the force. So this culture can be directly attributed to him as being a longtime member of this force and now the deputy mayor. And we're asking for the Department of Justice, the FBI, and Homeland Security to do a thorough investigation of this police department and this police culture. Most of you have seen the FBI reports where they have shown and investigated that white supremacist terrorist groups have infiltrated police departments.

That's what you've seen on this night that Jalen Walker was killed. You've seen the results of that investigation. Akron, Ohio, is part of Summit County. Barberton, Ohio, is part of Summit County. In 1920, Summit County had the second largest Ku Klux Klan base, over 400,000 members. And that's what you see in the culmination of in Jalen Walker's killing, is a culmination of 60 years of police infiltration by the Ku Klux Klan. And that's what we're seeing in our politics. That's what we're seeing in our police department. And that's what we're asking for the FBI, the Department of

Justice, the Homeland Security to come in and do a thorough investigation. If Charles Brown doesn't resign, he should be terminated. And then we're going to register enough people to vote to have a new mayor next year. And those are the immediate things that we want right now. Those are the things that's going to now. Those are the things that's going to have to change if we're serious about change. We can't change without those things happening. Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more, especially to your point about white supremacy, because when you see how they riddled his body with bullets, that's inhumane. That's not even... No other way. There's just no recognizing that's a complete disregard

for that this is a person. This did not start from a bank robbery or a store robbery. This escalated from a so-called traffic stop. And we know driving while black. Let's call it what it is. Let's start from driving while black.

Exactly. You've seen the video. There was no taillight broken. There was no lights not working. Yeah. This is about being black after 9 o'clock in the wrong neighborhood. Yeah. No, absolutely.

And so I'm always a little skeptical when the pretext is a traffic violation because I don't know how traffic violations end in 90 bullets for black people. And meanwhile, you have a mass shooter that gets taken in peacefully. Can you talk a little bit about Jalen? I read that he had recently lost his girlfriend or his partner in a car accident. I'm just wondering, you know, I'm not in any way trying to say that he did anything wrong here because I completely reject the notion that black people have to act perfect in order to not be executed by the police. and why he, you know, felt endangered enough to flee from the cops or, you know, you know, engage in this chase or even run when he was finally stopped? Yes, I don't know Jalen personally. I've gotten to know him through his family. He is a very humble, very sweet man. But he's like every Black man and in some instances, every black person in America. It was 12 o'clock at night.

He is allowed to carry a gun. He was being approached by police. And as a black man, that just didn't sit right with him to stop at the place he was at. And he kept going, fearing for his life, knowing that the minute he stopped and they walked up to his car and seen a gun, what you've seen happen was going to happen anyway. Right. That's how we feel. So his best shot at that time, what he thought, what I believe he thought his best shot was to try to get away.

And I don't know what he was thinking, but as a black man, I know what I'm thinking in that situation, and I'm just believing he was thinking the same way. Right. The fact that he's a door dash driver, it's important that we understand why that gun was on the seat like that. Right. He's a door dash driver. But that doesn't mean anything. We're being pulled over by white police officers in Akron, Ohio. So I don't know why he ran. But as a black man, I'm going to assume that's why he ran.

Right. And at the end of the day, you know, the police, in my view, you know, if they want, if once you get to 90 shots and basically a firing squad, these people had every intent of doing what they did, whether he ran or not. But I did want to emphasize the point that the gun was found inside the car. Inside the car. It was not found on his person where he ran. I'm not terribly inclined. I just color me skeptical with the cops saying that he fired off a shot. I just don't understand why a door dash driver, like you said, somebody out at night decides to go Cleo, set it off, shooting at the cops. That just doesn't ring true to me in terms of him escalating it. And not with the video shows. Yeah.

If you're trying to get away, why would you fire even one shot? It just sounds absurd. But I do want to bring in my panel to see if they have any questions or any input. So I want to bring in Teresa Lundy. She is principal founder of TML Communications and Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali, former senior advisor for Environmental Justice EPA. Teresa, you've been holding on. So I'm going to give you the first question for Mr. Green. Yeah, well, one, thank you very much for telling the story of this young Black man, of what we can tell, right? I think we are obviously in some very difficult

and sad times, but it is encouraging to hear that, you know, there is a team, you know, that is willing to fight for him. So tell us what's going on in terms of, like, next steps in ensuring that we are providing justice, not only in Ohio, but also nationally to bring awareness to this issue. So we have a strategic plan. It's for the most part a two-year plan. I can't divulge all of that plan here, but I will say we are in contact with the DOJ, the000 people to vote this year and another 10,000 people to vote next year to ensure that we have a new mayor in this city next year and to ensure that anybody that runs and gets elected for city council are people that are not going to continue to negotiate with this police union, are going to put some standards in our police department,

and is going to fight for the people over the police. And also looking to elect a new prosecutor. The prosecutor we currently have has never prosecuted a police officer. So those are the moves we're looking to make right now. The strategy behind that, I can't divulge that at the time. It's a lot of sensitive information. But but we do have a strategic plan that we're working to carry out. Ray, thank you for bringing up, you know, the the political side of it in terms of the elected office. You know, there's a lot of disillusionment and discontent with the political process for a number of reasons, nationally, locally. But I appreciate the way you laid out how these elected officials can help drive some of this change or be an obstruction to things, like you said, with the prosecutor never charging a police officer for their police misconduct. So I really appreciate that.

But one thing I wanted to ask you is, you know, there's a there's a big Senate race in Ohio this year. Have you had any engagement or do you guys plan to reach out to Congressman Tim Ryan, who is the Democratic nominee for Senate there? Or has your local congressperson been involved at all in responding to this? We have been in touch with Senator Brown. He's very much involved in looking at everything that we were asking for. Very much involved as Amelia Sykes and Vernon Sykes, Tavia Galansky. And what we're doing right now is we're gearing up for a huge governor's race in the Senate race this year. And what we're looking at is electing someone who's going to get rid of qualified

immunity. These are the questions people are going to have to ask of the state race this year. Are we going to get rid of qualified immunity? And they can lie and say they is to get elected. And if they don't do it, we will recall them. But we're no longer falling for what I like to call a Biden syndrome. We will recall you. We're going to get you elected. And if you don't do what we do, we will recall you. And that's what we're focused on now is building a base to back up those words I just said. OK, Dr. Mustafa, question for Ray. Yes. Well, Ray, thank you for humanizing our brother, because so often in these situations, they quickly try to dehumanize us. So I appreciate you for that. My question is, you know, when we see these egregious actions happen and we see folks like being taken, you know, many of us who may not be in that particular city and I do have family there.

But I want to ask you, how do we best support the actions that you are moving forward on and others there? And how do we best support the black community there in the city? The first thing that we need everyone around the world to do is write Congress. We must end qualified immunity in this country. And the more states that talk to their state representatives, the better chance we have of getting this federally taken care of. The fact that we are right now in 2022 and the George Floyd Act has not been passed is a problem. We need your help with that, brother. We need everybody that's listening to ensure that the George Floyd Act gets passed. And then we need boots on the ground.

We need people to question their state representatives the way I'm talking about and ensuring that they're going to get rid of qualified immunity. electoral level, countrywide, nationwide, that allows us to be talking the same language to the representatives to where we're going to elect representatives that has Black people's interests in mind. We know historically that if you take care of Black people, you take care of the rest of the country. And we have to stick to that and carry the same message into these state elections this year, these gubernatorial elections this year, and then some local elections next year and put pressure on our local to get results at the federal level that allows us to make changes in this country. Such an important point. It's a great call to action and it's manageable. It's something that everybody can do. It doesn't have to be necessarily, you know, out in the streets with picket signs. You can exercise your voice right in a Congress voting and things of that nature. I want to bring in Demario Solomon-Simmons, civil rights attorney

and founder of Justice for Greenwood. Demario, welcome to the show. Do you have a question for Ray? Hey, good to see you, Recy. Good to see you. And all the panelists and this guest, but I appreciate the work that you're doing. And you're right, we must continue to push for qualified immunity to be abolished. I just got a filing right before I got on here from a case where they're asking for qualified immunity. You know, where you are when you're talking to your federal elected officials and they're talking about getting to restart that discussion about the George Floyd Policing Act. Now, what are you hearing from them? You know, obviously it passed

out the House, it got stalled in the Senate. What are you hearing from them to be able to get this finally passed? That's what I'm hearing. You know, it's stalled in the Senate. So we have to build enough base. We have to build enough political power to take over the Senate. We have to put those people that say it's stalled in the Senate, we have to put them on blast. What else could you do? What else needs to be done? And then we have to elect different officials in different states to be on that federal level. We have to join together. We cannot be in silos with this thing. If we got to move people, we need to come up with the money to move people. That allows us to run somebody else somewhere else and get them elected in that state. We have to be more strategic in what we're doing around this political thing. We understand that states are gerrymandered, particularly Ohio. Most people look at Ohio as a red or purple state. We are not a red or purple state. We are a gerrymander, particularly Ohio. Most people look at Ohio as a red or purple state. We are not a red or purple state. We are a gerrymander state. And in order to change that, we must register people

to vote like crazy. And then we must, if we must implant people into those communities that are electable, we must also look at that strategy to do that. Yeah, such a, such an important point. I mean, I just, I really appreciate, you know, just the way that you're laying it out for us. I just want to thank you for coming on the show today. Give us an idea of how to support your specific organization and where people can follow you going forward. They can follow us on our website, www.freedomblock.org. They can support us by continuously praying, continuously writing their representatives, continuing to move the needle in the electoral process.

Don't give up talking to young people, but you have to talk to them in a way that matters. You can't talk to them just about going to vote and people die for your right to vote. That's not the conversation they need to have. They need to understand that qualified immunity is elected. There's an elected position that can get rid of qualified immunity. They need to know that marijuana legalization comes from you being registered to vote. They need to know that you being put up for taillight can change by you being registered to vote and electing officials that's going to do the work to change that. And that's what I need everybody to do. We don't need everybody coming down here marching.

We need everybody standing in their towns, talking to their elected officials, and changing those local policies that move to state policies that eventually move to federal policies. And together we could be on the same page doing that. And that's what we need everybody across the country doing. I couldn't agree more. We don't need more platitudes. We need practical, strategic solutions that all of us can take action on. So thank you so much, Mr. Ray Green, Jr., for joining us. Before we close up this segment, though, I do want to toss to the family today.

Jalen Walker had a press conference. So I just want you all to get an idea of what they have to say on what's happening. First of all, once again, we have to put in perspective and in context why we're here. This is why we're here. This is why the chief spoke today. And this is why I'm speaking to you. His name is Jalen and he's not a monster. He's my client. I'm emotional because of what I saw today. I've seen it three times and it doesn't get any easier.

I'm sad that we began the presentation in precisely the way that the law would not allow. I want you to know that when I go to court for this family, the judge will look at me and he will say you are not allowed council to look at a shooting like an armchair quarterback you're not allowed to look back on the shooting from the end of the story and give snapshots in time. I'm not allowed to do that in court. I'm disappointed I saw that today. They want to turn him into a masked monster. With a gun. And we knew that.

But I want to thank the chief for one thing he said. At the time he was shot, more than 90 or 60 or whatever the unbelievable number will be, he was unarmed. A couple days ago, a guy with my skin color held off police, killed a couple, and is in jail today. In a stand buried this week or next week when he leaves the morgue and his name is jaylen jaylen was unarmed black guy in kentucky nope Black guy in Akron? Yep. And is that something that's very difficult for me to admit? Yes, it is difficult for me to admit. Because I can do anything for the family, please give peace, give dignity, and give justice a chance for Jalen. I just have such profound sadness for what we saw today. Each time I've watched the video, it's gotten worse for me. Every movement that I see, every shot that I heard, and every time that I see Jalen lying on the ground,

it just gets more and more horrific. I'm going to look at my phone because I took some notes down while we were inside. And what we heard was that it was tough to see. It's a lot more than just tough to see. It's a lot more than just tough to see. It's something that should never, ever have to be seen. We've heard of transparency, accountability, a commitment to openness, all in an effort to try and gain the trust of the citizens. And for a fair and unbiased review of the facts is what we heard of in the conference today. And what was very telling is what we heard Chief Milet say that the most critical decision that a police officer

will make in his or her career is to pull the trigger and then be able to explain why they did what they did what specific threats were. And to be able to account for every round that comes out of that gun. Those are my notes and that's what I heard. And the video will tell us exactly what was said. But that's how I heard it. And I believe that's how everybody else heard it. The officers will need to account for every single action that they did. The Walker family is praying for peace.

They are asking for peace. They are praying for accountability. We live in a society where we can never see this happen again. We need to get better. How do we get better? We're going to learn from this about how we can get better. And as my partner Bobby DiCello pointed out, we cannot villainize Jalen. This is a young man who just last Sunday

was with his family and was with his grandmother and was helping put chairs out on the porch. His smile, who he was, how he interacted with his family, that's who Jalen was. And efforts to try and paint him in a different light, that's spin, that's protection. We're here for transparency. We are not here for spin.

I'm heartbroken. And what we all just saw in that room is heartbreaking. What I'm here to say is that we are done dying like this. In this manner, with this fate. Nobody should ever suffer the fate that Jalen Walker did. Monday morning, Jalen, or I should say Monday, Sunday morning, Jalen woke up in his bed, and 24 hours later, he was in a morgue.

Jalen was shot more times than I can count. And that is beyond troubling. We are done dying like this. Teresa, your reaction to what we just saw? Well, I'm in disgust right now. It's certainly another sad day here in America. I think there's so much work that has to be done. I think the path moving forward is how do we actually get it done and start looking at those type of solutions if we can actually get to that point. But I obviously I'm here heartbroken, you know, because it's like multiple times, you know, we're having these conversations. It's countless times where we're hearing about these stories and it just just doesn't stop. So my reaction is just really disgrace. It's disgrace and disgust with the system as of this point. But I am encouraged that, you know,

we are going to have some leaders. I'm encouraged by, you know, the brother that we just had on here that said, listen, we're going to put our action into power and we're going to register people to vote. We're going to get out there on these streets. But after we do all that, you know, I'm looking at the existing leadership and I'm hoping that something can change in the recent. But yeah, I'm disgusted. Yeah. And Mustafa, you know, so much happened just over the course of when we, you know, first are made aware of Jalen Walker's case. And before we came on air on this show. But it's important to not let this get lost in the shuffle. I mean, this is about as horrific as what we've seen, but we're just bombarded with so much right now. So, I mean, what is your

comment to people who, you know, are kind of treating this like just another day in America? Well, we can't allow that. You know, we have to work with folks because folks are going to approach it from different angles and we have to understand, you know, where they may be coming from and the sets of circumstances that they have dealt with in the past. Just a week ago, a young man was shot a few doors down from where I was. And so I understand how, you know, these things play out. And we've got to also understand that there has been some intentionality in the creation of these killing fields that we find across our country. So we can't shy away from that.

And now we have to figure out how do we unpack what has been, you know, these pieces that have been put together to weaken our communities in many instances, to dehumanize folks inside of our communities, and then to give justification for our lives being taken. We do it, as Teresa said and as others have said, by making sure that folks understand the power that exists inside of their vote to be transformational and understanding that is not an overnight transformation, that we have to stay consistent, that we have to make sure that we are also lifting up candidates who truly are going to

ride with us, who are not going to get bought off and who are going to do the hard work. And then we've got to surround them with others. But that means that we have to stay engaged in it to make sure that that becomes a reality. And then we have to hold people accountable. We also got to make sure that resources are flowing properly to the organizations that are doing the work, that are mobilizing, that are strategizing, that are putting together the plans that are necessary. So we got to to make sure that that's happening, both from our own personal sets of investments, but also from these corporations and others who talk a good game. After our brother George Floyd lost, no, he didn't lose his life, his life was taken, you know, folks stood up there

for a second and said, we're going to make investments in these communities. And then when we go back and take an analysis, we see that all the dollars that were supposed to go didn't. So we've got to continue to put pressure there as well. And then we've got to continue to have shows like we're on right now that will refuse us to not put a spotlight and authenticity on the realness of what is happening on the ground in our communities each and every day. Because too many folks want to water it down. They want to whitewash it or whatever label you want to put on it so that it's like, oh, well, maybe it's not that important because not enough folks are talking about it. That's why you should show up here every night to Roland Martin

Unfiltered and to hear from individuals who will walk you through it and then also talk you through strategies of how we make real change happen. So as my grandmother says, you have power, let's give it away. Let's utilize our power to make change happen in our communities. Yeah. And, you know, honestly, some people are pushing back so hard on the notion that you have to be strategic on the fact that you have to constantly stay engaged, even when we continue to see these horrific killings, executions happen over and over again, but what is the alternative? I don't know of any other alternative other than what we've discussed on this program tonight. Demario, I want you to

have the last word on what happened with Jalen Walker and your reaction to the video. Well two things, well, three things. Number one, being in that situation with those lawyers where so many times, you know, when he mentioned seeing that video, and even though he'd seen it many times, he still was emotional. I understand that pain and that emotion

very, very vividly, because even though you know what's going to happen, you wish you could say something that could stop your client from being brutalized, killed, shot. So I really feel for those lawyers. I thought they did an excellent job of presenting their case. And I appreciated the first lawyer's transparency when he said it was difficult for him to say that a white guy with his skin color could shoot and kill officers in Kentucky and be alive. And yet Jalen Walker is shot 60, 70, 80 times, whatever may be the case. I appreciate that reality and the realness of that lawyer.

Second thing I would say here is for those of us, those who are listening on this show, I don't think everyone can stay continuously engaged because we burn out. But what you can do right now, you can decide that you're going to support an organization either in your city or nationally that's doing this work on police accountability. One organization I will put forward for you to support is the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund has been on the forefront of these type of cases for decades. They bring lawsuits throughout this entire country. I would ask everybody right now, if you can, to at least go to their website and sign up to donate $10, $20, $50 a month. Even if you can't be engaged each and every day,

they have a staff that's engaged each and every day, and they can keep you connected with folks who are doing this work across the country. And right in your city, the third thing I would ask you to do, right in your city today, there's a civil rights attorney or a law firm, a small firm like mine, who's doing this work that could use your support, that could use your help, that can maybe use a donation. Maybe you can do something to help them engage the community more, because there's not a lot of firms out here that do the actual work on a day in and day out basis because it's difficult. It's expensive and it's very, very, very, very soul crushing each and every day when you have to look at these videos. So those are some practical things I think you can do to keep engaged, even when you can't do on a daily basis yourself.

Yeah, we're all about actionable steps on Roland Martin and filter DeMario. So thank you for laying that out. And just the one point I'll make to your point about the lawyer, you know, identifying or recognizing the fact that, you know, in a white guy and I won't even say similar because I would like to emphasize Jalen Walker was not committing a crime. Yeah, he was fleeing from the police, but it was from a supposed traffic stop. And like we said, driving while black is a thing. So, you know, it's just crazy how black people who are not a threat find themselves being murdered by the cops in this way. But I don't want to give him a cookie for that because, you know, we need more white folks to speak out and use their voice.

I remember during the racial reckoning, the summer of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, people were vocal. And then we saw a year later almost a backlash to it. People got fatigued to Black Lives Matter. So we cannot, as black people people be the only ones to shoulder the burden of fixing police brutality in this country white people get killed by the cops too now it's for different reasons than how we're getting killed but every every race has you know encounters police brutality or or abuse in some way and so y y'all, if you white out there, you watching the show, you need to go check your cousins and your uncles and your memos

and your papas and all of them, brethren and sistren, and start checking them and why they're supporting these MAGA sheriffs or these MAGA prosecutors or these cops or why they reserve judgment until they have all the facts supposedly where there's never enough facts for them to side against the cops so white folks y'all y'all got work to do too it ain't just on black people to always be the ones shouldering the burden of everything that's wrong with this country so with that said we're gonna head to a break this is roland martin unfiltered on the black star network We'll be right back. with plans starting at just $35. All on the network more people rely on.

Of course I looked up to Spike Lee. Of course, who didn't? I mean, he's a genius. But then also, I was this kid from Brooklyn that felt like, you know... Give me my damn respect. You know, I made this, you know, this creative art, right, that people are responding... Thank you. The American Pronunciation Guide Presents ''How to Pronounce Buick'' Appreciate that. Love our new alexa it's a buick yeah alexa buick alexa it's a buick it's an alexa it's a buick it's an alexa coach that's a buick that's an alexa the buick enclave with available alexa built in

we're all impacted by the culture whether we we know it or not. From politics to music and entertainment, it's a huge part of our lives. And we're going to talk about it every day right here on The Culture with me, Faraji Muhammad, only on the Black Star Network. How about sushi? I just had sushi for lunch yesterday. How about sushi? I just had sushi for lunch yesterday. How about tacos? Automatic emergency braking. One of six advanced safety features standard on every 2022 Chevy Equinox. Find new technology.

Find new roads. Chevrolet. Hey, I'm Donnie Simpson. Hi, I'm Eric Nolan. I'm Shantae Moore. Hi, my name is Latoya Luckett, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. I'm terrified I might be here forever. WNBA star Brittany Griner wrote these words in a handwritten letter to President Joe Biden about her Russian detainment. In the letter, Griner writes,

As I sit here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey or any accomplishments, I'm terrified I might be here forever. On the 4th of July, our family normally honors the service of those who fought for our freedom, including my father, who is a Vietnam War veteran. It hurts thinking about how I usually celebrate this day because freedom means something completely different to me this year. I realize you are dealing with so much, but please don't forget about me and the other American detainees. Please do all you can to bring us home. I voted for the first time in 2020, and I voted for you. I believe in you. I still have so much good to do with my freedom that you can help restore. I miss my wife. I miss my family. I miss my teammates.

It kills me to know they are suffering so much right now. I'm grateful for whatever you can do at this moment to get me home. Last Friday, Greiner made her first appearance in a Russian court. She is expected to return to court this Thursday. Today, her wife, Sherelle Greiner, appeared on CBS this morning. She says they still have not heard from the president. How often do you get to talk to her or communicate with her? Because I know you haven't physically talked to her, right?

Correct. I have not physically talked to her. I had the chance about four and a half months in. We finally got a phone call approved. And unfortunately, our government, you know, made a mistake in answering her phone calls. And so I haven't been able to talk to her yet. And the letters, I mean, you know, they may be consistent as in I'll hear something, you know, every week. And, you know, sometimes I may not. I think at one point it was a whole month before I received one letter from her. And when I did get it, they were backdated.

Yeah, it's very difficult to hear this conversation. Has there been a change in strategy on how you all are pushing the government for her release? Are there calculations that you make yourself about what to say and how to say? What is that? What is your thinking? So that's a good question. So everything about this is a calculation for me because I have to walk the fine line of, you know, harm versus help when it comes to my wife right now. So as much as I want to, you know, um, advocate for her and push for, you know, our government to do everything, you know, I also have to take into account that she's in a position where she could be harmed, um, also, um, by any and everything I do. And so it's a thin line to walk. And initially,

you know, I was told, you know, just we're going to try and reserve, you know, we're going to try and handle this behind scenes and, you know, let's not raise her value and, you know, stay quiet. And, you know, I did that. And respectfully, we're over 140 days at this point. That does not work. And so I will not be quiet anymore. I will find that balance of harm versus help in pushing our government to do everything that's possible because being quiet, they are not moving. They are not doing anything. And so my wife is struggling and we have to help her. Sherelle, a lot of us feel the same way that you do. We all want her home sooner rather than later. Before you go, have you heard from the White House since the letter was delivered to President Biden?

In her letter, she says the first time she voted was in 2020 and that vote was for President Biden. Have you heard from him? I still have not heard from him. And honestly, it's very disheartening. All right. So Sherelle Griner, thank you so much for your time. We, of course, will stay on this story and would certainly like to talk to you and Brittany together. Thank you so much for your time this morning. At today's White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre acknowledged President Biden received Greiner's letter. Final question. Can you talk about the status of the letter that Brittany Greiner sent to the president?

Has he been briefed on it? Has he even read it? Greiner's wife was on television this morning. She really wants to hear from the president. Will he reach out to her in any fashion? So I can say that the President did read the letter. I was there when he read the letter. This is something, Brittney Griner being held in Moscow, we believe the Federation is wrongfully, she's being wrongfully detained in Moscow at this time. This is an issue that is a priority for this president. As you have heard us say before, he believes that any U.S. national that is held abroad or detained

or held hostage abroad, we need to bring back safely, and we are going to use every tool that we possibly can to make that happen. Again, this is a priority for the President. I do want to share that on Saturday, Mrs. Greiner spoke with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. That is their second call in the past about 10 days that they have spoken. Secretary Blinken also spoke with Mrs. Greiner as well recently. I don't have anything else to read out as far as a potential call or a meeting with her family. But clearly, we believe she is wrongfully detained. We believe she needs to come home. She should be home, as well as Paul Whalen, as well, who's being held,

and any other U.S. nationals who is being wrongfully detained abroad. Thank you. Hi, Karen. Just to follow up on that, Greiner's coach said if this was LeBron, she would be home, right? It's a statement about the value of women. It's a statement about the black person, a statement about the value of a gay person.

All of those things we know is true. Do you see this as a double standard? This is a president who has put all of the things that you just laid out, the LGBTQ community, women, people of color, he has fought for those communities throughout his career, and you have seen that in policies that he has put forward. Again, this is a priority for this president. He's doing everything that he can. The White House is closely coordinating as well with the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, who has met with Brittany's family, her teammates, and her support network.

So we are going to continue to have those conversations, and we're going to make sure that she and others get home safely. And just to follow up, since this is a priority for the President, I mean, she's been detained for months now. Her wife told CBS this morning that she still has not heard from Biden. And honestly, it's very disheartening. I know it's a priority, but why has it taken this long? And why has it taken a letter from Reiner in jail

to reach the President to make this a priority? Ms. This has been on top of mind of the President. Like, I was there when he read the letter. And he takes this to heart. He takes this job very seriously, especially when it comes to bringing home U.S. nationals who are

wrongfully detained. And you saw the work that his administration did to bring home Trevor Reed. That is the same work, the same focus that we did and put behind bringing Trevor Reed home. We're going to do the same with Brittany Greiner and others. So again, this is a priority. We are going to make this happen. We have been in constant communications. Secretary Blinken, the special envoys I just listed out, and also Jake Sullivan, our national security advisor.

We're going to continue to have those conversations, and we're going to continue to make sure we use everything at our disposal to bring her home, and also Paul Whelan and all the other U.S. nationals that are abroad. So that was really illuminating in terms of both the interview from Mrs. Greiner, Sheryl Greiner, and Karine Jean-Pierre. Theresa, I'm going to start with you. This is a very delicate situation. Even Sheryl mentioned she has to walk this tightrope of harm versus help. And I worry that this may be one of those situations where typically there's political posturing that you can do to appear that you're engaged on the situation. That's kind of off the table here because of Russia's war with Ukraine and the

role that the United States is playing there. and obviously Brittany Greiner being essentially a political prisoner from Putin. What is your take on the White House's response? And, you know, do you think enough is being done? Yeah, I know we're looking, all of us, me, as well as looking for an immediate response from the White House. But there are a lot of factors. You know, the United States has engaged with an alliance with Ukraine. And, you know, unfortunately, Britney is caught up in this weird game of chess. And it's unfortunate because in the past we have saw presidents, you know, do the exchange, you know, it was a bit swift, especially when it came to journalists. I don't want to get into, you know, because Brittany's

African-American, she's a woman, she's an athlete. Like, I don't want to get into those criteria, but I want to get into what the response is from the White House and are they doing enough? And to even answer that question, there is just a whole bunch of factors that are currently happening in the country that Putin is absolutely going to use to his disposal to get what he wants done. I think Russia has already proven that they are willing to hold Brittany captive more than 138 days. I think this is fine time that the family has gone on this media tour to really say, okay, we've waited, you know, more than 60 days. What are we going to do? And I just think it should have came a little bit sooner, but nonetheless,

this is where we are. So, I mean, again, I'm not sure we can let Britney out tomorrow. That would be great. But again, when we are engaged, you know, in the counterwar with Russia, this is where we are. Yeah. I mean, I will say, you know, when you hear the secretary of state, Anthony Blinken, when you hear the national security advisor, Jake Blinken, when you hear the national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, these are not peons. You know, these are cabinet officials. These are high-ranking officials, as well as there is an interagency response. So it doesn't seem like this is a small deal to the administration. And one other point I do want to point out, because I hear this often, that Trump would have been had or out. Well, we've seen two people who were wrongfully detained

during the Trump administration who've actually been released through negotiations under the Biden-Harris administration. So I just want to clear that up, because I think a lot of people have this notion that Trump was so tough and he would have done whatever, and he did not successfully get any wrongful detainees out of Russia during his time because he was Putin's lapdog. But with that being said, it's 100 percent justified for Shirell and the Griner family and friends to do everything they can to put as much pressure upon the administration to not let up and to constantly engage with them and communicate with them and assure them that they're doing

everything they can to bring Brittany home. Mustafa, I want to go to you because you've actually worked in an administration. So I just want to get your sense of, you know, your read on what kinds of things the administration is kind of hamstrung on and what do you think they're doing well in this situation, if anything? Well, you know, as was stated, you know, being in the middle of a war makes it really tough. But with that being said, it's not the first time that whether our country or countries that we are allied with have been in wars and we've still been able to make sure that those international negotiations, the things that happen behind closed doors, those conversations between ambassadors and others continue to move forward. You know, a basic is the president actually having a conversation with the Griner family. I mean, that's basics. That's one on one stuff. Maybe there's a reason that that didn't happen earlier. I've seen other conversations with other families with a lot more immediacy than in this situation.

Folks understand you're going to you know, if you say you're going to do the best you can, then people are going to take you at your word and they're going to give you the space to be able to do that. But if you don't, then you create these gray areas that make folks really nervous because they're already dealing with a situation that is unfamiliar to them. So do everything you can in your power to help the family to know, one, that you're committed, two, that you're connected, and three, that you'll use all the resources that the United States has to be able to make sure this situation is rectified and she's brought back home safely. Again, those are the one, two, threes. And when you don't do that, you create these gaps that are unnecessary. The other thing is, you know, there are some talented people who are part of the negotiations right now.

But, you know, I'm a student of history. I know many of other people are. We remember when Jesse Jackson was actually able to go in and get hostages freed. So maybe we need some folks who have those types of skills to also be a part of the negotiations if they are not. And again, I want to give grace and space because there are so many things that happen that we're not privy to in these types of situations. But, you know, we can bring her home. I sure hope and I pray that she makes it back home very, very soon. Yeah. To your point, Bill Richardson actually has been retained by the Griner family to help with the negotiations. And he successfully got the return of Otto, I don't know if I'm saying his name right, Rombier and other hostages, whether that's from North Korea and other hostile nations. And so with him on the case, I mean, that's a pretty effective hostage well as, you know, the folks in the administration that are working it.

But to another point about Biden meeting with the family, it's interesting because in a recent release, a person who's released, I believe it was Paul Reland. His family protested outside of the White House. And that afternoon, Biden granted an audience with them. So pressure works to get this face time. You know, at some point, perhaps the administration will make the calculation that, you know, not elevating a bright Griner's importance in the eyes of Putin is is not as big of a priority than it is to assure the Griner family that they're really working on it. So, I mean, it's a tough call to make. But, you know, when a family is hurting and they're concerned and they're asking for it, I'm more along the lines of saying, you know, you got to take that risk.

At least do it privately. You know, even if you say, look, this is off the record, nobody can know about this. At least she doesn't have to go out and plead publicly for a meeting. DeMario, I do want to go to you about the topic of the fact that she is a black woman. Now, we've seen white men detained wrongfully in Russia as well. So we know that Putin is an opportunist when it comes to Americans in general. But to the point that's been made by many people over the months, if this were something like LeBron James or anybody else, the entire country and actually the world would be galvanizing around getting her home the same way we saw people galvanize around the world when the UCLA basketball players were detained in China.

And they had actually, you know, kind of wrecked some shit up. So, you know, I think that I'm not convinced that this is an issue in terms of the administration's response and their priority level in responding to this. I take Karine Jean-Pierre at her word, especially when I hear Jake Sullivan and Blinken and others are involved. But I think as a society, it's a little bit too kind of shoulder shrugging going on. And I've even seen some people like, well, she knew that she was breaking the law. She knew she shouldn't have been doing that and really excusing it, even though if she weren't wrongfully detained, if she were treated like anybody else, she would have gotten a ticket. I want people to understand that. But the amount of hash oil she was found with, it would have been

a ticket. It would have been a fine and she would have not been facing jail time under any other circumstances. So the so the blame game on that needs to stop. That's just flat out not true. But Mario, what is your reaction to just what we all could be doing to help putting pressure on not just Biden, but Putin for him to understand that this, you know, reflects poorly on him as well. There's a lot to unpack there. I would say first, though, your first question about if this was LeBron, there would be no way in hell that Biden would not be on the phone with LeBron's wife. I just want to elevate what Mustafa said. It's like he took my notes. He took my Jesse Jackson and my notes about the call. And I think this is really something that Democrats do all the time.

And it drives people crazy. They say we're going to do all I can to help. And then you don't do all you can. And Mustafa said one on one. Make the phone call to the family. Take five minutes to say, I understand what's going on. I get it. We're trying as hard as I can. I got my best men and women on the job. That would mean the world. If this was LeBron, you best believe President Biden would have been on the phone with LeBron's family immediately. I believe that because Brittany is an African-American female WNBA basketball player, it's not the same elevation as far as the administration or with

the country. As far as Bill Richardson, I was going to say the same thing. I think Jesse Jackson, Bill Richardson has a track record also, but I think Jesse Jackson has a track record, and I think that would bring a lot of solace and comfort to the family. To your third point, as far as what can we do, I don't think anything we — I don't think — I don't believe anything an American citizen can do to impact a foreign country that's at war with the United States of America. I think the focus should be on our own administration to be doing everything possible not only to get Brittany back, but to bring comfort to the family.

I think that's — those things are just as important. And we're all praying for her return, safe return. The picture we saw her going to court with her eyes booked, you know, it really hurt me to see that, to see the fear in her face. So, you know, we're just hoping she gets home safely. But more important, or just as importantly, we hope that the family knows that we care about her, but this country should be behind her at 100%.

I agree, Demario. That's the least we can do is stand in solidarity with Brittany and her family. We're going to head to a break. Roland Martin Unfiltered will be right back after this break. You're watching the Black Star Network. Verizon just gave us all a brand new iPhone 13. We've been customers for years. I thought new phones were for new customers.

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pull ourselves together, and cheer each other on. So join me for new shows each Tuesday on Black Star Network, a balanced life with Dr. Jackie. How about sushi? I just had sushi for lunch yesterday. Yeah. How about tacos? I just had sushi for lunch yesterday. How about tacos? Automatic emergency braking.

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Every week, we'll take a deeper dive into the world we're living in. Join the conversation only on the Black Star Network. I'm Chrisette Michelle. Hi, I'm Chaley Rose, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. a.j. Hayes jr. from Lakewood Washington has been missing since July 1st, 2022. A.J. is 16 years old, approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighs 150 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information about Aaron A.J. Hayes Jr. is urged to call the Lakewood, Washington Police Department at 253-287-4455. Fourth of July shootings. Over the weekend, over the Fourth of July weekend, more than a dozen mass shootings took place. According to the Gun Violence Archive, at least 15 people died and over 90 were injured due to the weekend's mass shootings.

The most high-profile mass shooting took place in Highland Park, Illinois. On Monday morning, suspected shooter Robert E. Cremo III is accused of unloading a barrage of bullets on parade goers from a business rooftop, killing seven people and injuring 47 people. Cremo was taken into custody unharmed late Monday evening after a brief chase. He's now been charged with seven counts of murder. In Pennsylvania, two officers were injured at Philadelphia's Fourth of July celebration. Deputy John Foster, at age 44, was shot in the shoulder, and Officer Sergio Diggs, 36, was grazed across the forehead by a bullet that they later found

lodged in his cap. Sources believe the shooter fired in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, but behind the main stage on Eakins Oval. The gunman is still at large and the shooting circumstances remain under investigation. Philadelphia police is offering a $20,000 reward for anyone with any information about the shooter. Okay I think I can go to the panel on this because I just feel like we have to at least briefly talk about the fact that Robert E. Cremo Jr. was apprehended alive after killing, at the time it was six people, injuring dozens of people, fleeing the scene, and the cops said, do me a favor and put your hands up. Demario, your reaction to the circumstances

surrounding Robert E. Cremo's arrest? You know, it just shows that, man, in this country, white people, even when they're murderers, have more rights than the average black person. And I see it every single day. I've never looked at any of my cases where people have been brutalized, shot, killed, maimed by the police, and heard them say things like, please do me a favor.

I mean, so it just shows that these people are out of control. They do not care about being on video. We need something totally new to happen. This country has to be remade all the way over. I mean, I know we've got to vote. We've got to continue to file lawsuits. We've got to continue to support candidates that support us. But at the end of the day, we need a whole new constitution. We need a whole new society because this society is full of guns, full of racism, full of hatred.

You see this stuff over and over, and it just infuriates you. I mean, this guy killed people at a parade in a white town, and he still goes home, still goes to jail with just a mugshot. And it gives these white people like this individual, it gives them more courage to continue to carry out these attacks because they know, look, I'm not going to be killed. I can get away with this. I can kill a bunch of people and still go to jail. It's ridiculous. Yeah. You know, it's interesting, Teresa. Now, these pictures have circulated that I've seen of Cremo with a MAGA paraphernalia. He had Trump supporting paraphernalia. He actually ran for mayor as a Republican previously. And so it's quite interesting how quiet Republicans have been on one of their own engaging in

mass murder of the citizens of his town. What's your reaction to that? KAMALA HARRIS, National Public Radio Network, I'm actually not surprised. The whole MAGNA movement has been a more terrifying and treacherous experience that I think many of us have experienced, either listening to the rhetoric if we're nearby living in that county or city where they're doing their next rally, but also just seeing the abuse that is happening on social media, you know, and the terrorizing that cyberbullying has been happening. You know, we can, you know, blame social media. And to an extent,

I do blame, you know, some of these platforms who allow some of this hate to happen without, you know, restrictions or regards to how another person feels because it's, quote, freedom of speech. But the impact of some of these things that these individuals are saying, making fake accounts and, you know, who and the person who has a fake account is probably a CEO at a company that is paying the employee. You know, so these are definitely challenging times. And I think, you know, as we look at, you know, some opportunities to look at what unity and hope and prosperity actually looks like. You know, my brother DeMario said we need to rebuild the country. I don't know if we need to rebuild it, but we need to refresh.

And some of that refreshing does make a difference as we seek to find those type of solutions. Again, I love this country, and I think part of it is because we have checks and balances. And I think the law is what we have to remember is what governs us. And so once we protect this law, I don't think we should be having too much of these issues. But right now, it's just a bit uncertain. Yeah, I mean, the law protects some of us because the law protected him and he's getting through process. And Jalen Walker was subject to a firing squad for far less. You know, to your point, I will say data has shown that women are actually the most attacked

on social media. Black women exponentially more attacked. But there's a radicalization of white teens, black, I mean, white boys, specifically, we saw this with the Buffalo mass shooter who was younger than this guy, but 21, you know, still kind of in that phase where these younger, you know, white guys are out there getting radicalized online, not to excuse their behavior or to try to psychoanalyze them. But to DeMario's point about remaking this country, one thing we have to do to remake this country is recognize the threat of white supremacy on everybody, you know, and recognize the threat of radicalization of white men on everybody.

Because, again, to DeMario's point, this is a white town, a predominantly white town. Actually, it's mostly Jewish, even though the cops said they don't believe that was the motivation. But they never want to admit that anyway. But we're seeing, you know, in many cases, it's not just, you know, black people that are subjected to this violence, but a lot of white people are victims of these mass shootings. So we have to start to take this seriously. And one of the things that can be done is the Senate could pass the domestic terrorism extreme is, you know, the anti-domestic bill that the House passed on the heels of the

Buffalo massacre. And so just the one other thing I did want to bring up is it was interesting the way that they talked about how he was able to get away from this. I mean, he dressed up as a woman. He had a disguise. He had been planning this for weeks and he left a trail of things, of clues or posts. And we've kind of seen this even with the Uvalde case with the shooter there. There were clues, Teresa, to your point, online, about something in the milk ain't clean,

something is a little off with some of these people. So they've got to start taking this seriously. They've got to start taking this seriously because it's a danger to everybody. But, Jamar, my last comment on this, the cop said that he purchased these guns illegally. And so we need gun control, right? I mean, it's not just – Illinois has strict gun laws, but it's easy to purchase guns in neighboring states. But even as strict as the gun laws are in Illinois, he still had legal firearms. So what's your reaction to the fact that these were not illegal high-capacity guns that he had to inflict this amount of damage

very quickly? I mean, it's why I say, again, we have to remake this country, because this country, we have to be honest, it is a violent, white supremacist country. That is the founding of the country that is inbred into the Constitution, is inbred into the culture, the popular culture, everything. And so I'm not surprised that he got the guns legally. Hey, I'm a gun owner. I own four guns. I'm here in Oklahoma. I like to shoot guns.

I do believe we should have sensible gun laws. But more important than that, we need to have a new sensible belief in life. You know, this guy will probably also say he was, quote, unquote, pro-life because they want to control the bodies of women. But they don't mind. Their biggest death penalty, they love shooting other folks. This MAGA and Republican death cult is what it is. And we have to be honest. And we need our leaders to be honest and stop saying things like, this is not the

American way. This is not who we are. No. First of all, who is the we, as Dr. Carr would say? This is the American way. And this is who the American white man has been historically and the American system has been historically. So we just have to be honest about that so we can confront it, and then we can change that and work to create something that's better, that is about life, that is about respect, humanity, and equity and equality, the things that we talk about, but just simply are not in our society at this point. It can happen. It's a long-term project, but we have to be honest about where we are and where we need to go. Yeah, I agree with you, Demario. This is America, and we've seen the spectrum of America.

America was American-ing, okay, this weekend, between seeing what happened with Jalen Walker to seeing another dozen mass shootings, but also what happened with Robert DiCremo III. I don't know how much more Americana we can get this week. What happened in Philadelphia, you saw the video of the fireworks going off in the background and everybody running from gunshots. That was the most American thing you could ever see in the world. Right. Well, and Juneteenth,

you know, I was in D.C. and they had the, you know, the Mochella. And when I was at dinner with my husband the whole time time we saw multiple people rushing, you know, these kind of stampedes of people being scared. And later on that evening, four people were shot, including a young, a 15-year-old was killed.

And so this is just an issue. I'm glad you brought up Philadelphia again. We have to deal with the gun violence in this country. And we're only talking about the important stories, the mass shootings, the large gatherings that are targeted, not the everyday gun violence that we see where you have a mother walking her child who's murdered, you know, domestic violence. And there are so many violent parts of our society that people shrug off all the time. So speaking of violence, that's not a good segue, but in Texas, the Uvalde Schools District's

police chief resigns from his position on the city council just weeks after being sworn in. The resignation comes after allegations that he dropped the ball in response to the mass shootings at Robb Elementary School that left 19 students and two teachers dead. Chief Pete Arredondo told the Uvalde Leader News Friday that his resignation is the best decision for Uvalde. He was elected to the District 3 council position on May 7th and sworn in on May 31st. The director of the

Texas Department of Public Safety told a Senate hearing last month that Arredondo made terrible decisions as the massacre unfolded on May 24th and that the police response was an abject failure. That's an understatement. DeMario, you have a lot of experience with this. Can you just talk a little bit about what can be done to hold this police chief more accountable? To me, a resignation seems far inadequate. To call an abject failure is completely inadequate. If you were boots on the ground in Uvalde, what kind of what kind of action would you be calling for right now? Well, a couple of things here that's important to understand. Number one, he's just resigning from the city council.

Right. legal standpoint, people have to understand that our Supreme Court has made it so difficult to make officers accountable for their actions that they've actually stated by law that officers do not have a constitutional, you don't have a constitutional right for the police to protect you. So it's going to be very difficult to bring constitutional claims for his abject failure, for his cowardness, for his inaction to sit there and allow these children to be slaughtered because he was a coward and he didn't go with the training that he's received to go in and stop that particular shooter. Third, I think it is a mistake, a huge mistake to have police officers like this coward in schools as so-called school resource

officers. We know that these schools, particularly with Black kids and brown kids, they are going to be more subjected to police violence. And they do not, I'm going to repeat it, they do not make the kids safer. Not only did this coward not do his job, we saw this happen down in Florida, where another police officer sat there and allowed kids to be slaughtered. The point is we need to fund better education for schools. We don't need to be putting all this money

into bringing more police officers to schools. And we certainly don't need to be arming teachers. Now, if this coward police officer who was trying to be a police officer couldn't move in the right time when things were going crazy. You're going to have the Fort

Bray English teacher do it? Come on, man. This guy needs to be fired. I hope he has criminal charges, but I doubt any of that happens. It's going to be very difficult to hold him liable from a civil standpoint. Federally, I don't know the Texas law, so maybe someone in Texas can have a better understanding of that.

Yeah, and I would go beyond saying cowardice. I mean, it was obstruction. They stopped other officers like the border police, if you're to believe the reports, you know, which, you know, they might be spinning it to make themselves look like they were trying to do more than they were. You had something? Yeah, I mean, you're right on point. I definitely agree with what my sister Teresa had to say.

But this was such a great example of the propaganda, copaganda that we see. When this first happened, all they wanted to do was come out and talk about how great the cops did. Now, 18 kids are dead. All they want to do is talk about how great the cops did. But as the truth has come out, you haven't seen any of those politicians,

Ted Cruz, Greg Abbott, the lieutenant governor that cussed out Beto O'Rourke. None of them has come out to say, you know, we were wrong. These officers were wrong. These officers were cowards. It is so interesting to see how this works time and time again. And the thing that burns me up out of everything is this little town spending over 60 percent of their budget on these police officers, and they failed them miserably. Abject failure, like you said, Recy, complete obstructions, keeping parents from going in to get their kids.

Yeah, I mean, parents were... Don't let the Teresa talk. Parents were handcuffed and violated, and it's beyond disgusting. And yet, I don't think that as a country, or even locally, people are learning that cops ain't really there to necessarily thwart crime. They're not doing what they're supposed to do. Teresa, I'm going to bring you in on this next one.

In Georgia, an Atlanta grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election subpoenaed a handful of key Trump allies, including his former attorney Rudy Giuliani and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. According to the court filings, the subpoenas also cover a handful of Trump's other former legal advisors, including John Eastman, Jenna Ellis, Cleta Mitchell, and Kenneth Chairsbarrow. Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis is leading the investigation into Trump's actions in Georgia. Several state officials have already been subpoenaed and have appeared before the special grand jury. Now, we got to be quick on this, Teresa, but I think this is good news. And I wonder if the judge approving this, was it all swayed by the January 6th commission

hearings? But I want to see state's attorneys, secretaries of state's attorney generals across the country investigating in addition to what should be happening in the DOJ, because we know that people like Jenny Thomas were pressuring electors in Arizona and other states. So I know in this country, we have this kind of jingoistic, we are better than others, we don't prosecute political opponents. But what we've seen is I don't see how you can call it anything other than criminal behavior. What's your take on these subpoenas? And do you think that they're aiming high enough with the associates and not just Trump? I think that subpoenas are a first step.

I think it's a necessary step. I think everybody's been asking for these subpoenas to happen. Once you are subpoenaed under law, you are supposed to, by law, to of the discussions that were happening when it came to overturning the election, which, again, is a conspiracy in itself. So, yes, I do think January 6th Committee has something to do with it. I do agree with you, Recy, that it probably is upon other attorney generals in other states where this has happened to look into this and also ignite their own investigation. Because again, if we don't start changing what the narrative of American history is, this will be a stain on future generations.

And so we need to get a conclusion to this behavior. So we know in this country, this is not allowed to happen in other countries, just not in America. So part of it is, you know, accountability, transparency. And also, again, it's going to take some time. You know, Trump's team, you know, are millionaires and billionaires and highly connected. So, again, we have to rely on not only the rule of law, but also, you know, I'd probably say, yeah, actually, in this case, we are relying on the rule of law, but also just, you know, democracy in itself. I think that's really what's on trial here. So it's not going to happen overnight, but it is happening and it is the first step. Yeah, well, we know that they scammed $250 million out of people. So they have a lot of money for these legal defenses. I just hope that, you know, there's a lot of stuff happening or a little bit of stuff happening in various places. But I hope this doesn't turn into a Mueller situation where some peon gets a slap

on the wrist charge and none of the power players really get held accountable for this coup that we saw. And this was a test run because now what they're doing is they're attempting to install people that are just going to disregard the law. And the Supreme Court is going to be reviewing a case in the next term that basically has the potential ramifications of allowing state legislatures, and now we know a lot of state legislatures are controlled by Republicans, to overturn the will of the people or have omnipotent power of gerrymandering and other things that are voter suppression activity. So we'll have to see what happens with that. But Roland Martin Unfiltered will be right back right here on the Black Star Network.

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I'm Debra Owens, America's Wealth Coach. And on the next Get Wealthy, what do the ultra wealthy know that most of us don't? Well, the truth is that there is financial exclusion. And unfortunately, far too many black folks haven't had access to this knowledge. And that's exactly what we're going to talk about on our next Get Wealthy with Melinda Hightower, a banker who's doing something to share exactly what you need to do to make it into the high network status. They weren't just saving just to save. They were saving for a purpose. That's right here on Get Wealthy with me, America's Wealth Coach, only on Blackstar Network. Hey, I'm Amber Stephens-West. Yo, what up, y'all? This is Jay Ellis, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered.

As a black woman, I know how hard it is to find beauty products. Two black students attending a predominantly white university found it difficult to find products. Their solution was a vending machine to sell beauty supplies. Joining me now from Michigan are University Beauty Machine co-founders Rico Harrison and Mia Wilson. Thank you both for joining us. Rico, tell us a little bit about how this came about. Yeah, so me and I, we were Black students at the University of Michigan, and we experienced a lot of, you know, we saw we weren't represented in the university.

You know, I had a tough time getting waves, you know, specifically because I couldn't find a do-rag, you know, that, you know, and I feel like Mia, she felt the same way. And we basically came together and we saw that many of the freshmen didn't have rides 20 or 30 minutes away to go get products. You know, so that's that. OK. And Mia, your hair is gorgeous. So obviously you're using these products in this vending machine. Tell us a little bit about the business behind it. You know, how did you procure the vending machine? How did you determine to set the prices? How did

you procure the products, select the products that you're going to be selling? How did you guys come up with that? Was it a lengthy process or, you know, how, you know, just give us a little bit more insight into that. We've been working on the University of Michigan for about two years now. And we were lucky enough to be able to have access to resources for entrepreneurship and things like that from a organization on campus called Optimize. And with that organization, they helped us kind of like build our business from the ground up and gave us access to a lot of resources such as like, you know, how to connect with your stakeholders, you know, how to make sure that you're making a profit from what you're doing and things like that. So just after going through some of those webinars and workshops with Optimize, we were able to, you know, sit down, make a game plan, find vendors that we would put in the vending machine and then determine, you know, what the price would be for them by, you know, asking students and giving surveys to see,

you know, how much would you pay for this item in this vending machine, considering, you know, the convenience, the accessibility of it, and then how far you have to go if you didn't have the vending machine on campus. So we really, we were lucky enough to have access to the community of students and have access to our stakeholders to kind of like have those conversations with them

so we can make sure that in every aspect of the business, it was for them and make sure that we were serving them in the best way possible so um just doing that helped us a lot and you know figuring out those what products to put in there what the price points would be and everything like that yeah it sounds like you guys did your research which is so important and it's inspirational for those out there to utilize resources resources but to do their do their homework and make sure that they're hitting all of the right notes in terms of price audience things of that nature but it also sounds like you guys are very community oriented in terms of not trying to price gouge because i mean to rico's point if there's a 20 minute

distance to get these products that kind of creates an opportunity for somebody to be predatory. But you guys went the other route, which I applaud you for. Rico, what has been the response to the vending machine so far? How successful has it been? Is this something you guys are planning on duplicating in maybe other campuses? Yeah, it's been great. You know, one thing about, you know, not having supplies that make you feel good

and make you feel comfortable in your skin is that, you know, it can affect confidence. You know, and we've had many students talk to us about, you know, feeling more comfortable in their shoes while they're at a university where they are the minority, you know. So you've seen that. We have gotten a ton of the alumni who say, you know, we wish we had that. When we were students there, there have been quite a few schools who have reached out that want us to come and bring a machine there. You know, this is the need all across the United States.

Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, for black people, our hair is our crown. And we don't have what we can and we don't feel popping. You know what I'm saying? It's not missing. I don't know if I saw some edge control up in there, but I did see some weave glue. I saw some do-rags. So y'all look like y'all got the right products in there for the community that you're looking at. I'm going to bring in the panel on this. Teresa, do you have a question for Rico or Mia? Yes, I do have a question.

And one, I am very excited. I went to a predominantly white institution myself. Thankfully, it was in the African-American neighborhood. So I went to our corner store. But I think your idea is phenomenal. And so my question to you is, just start thinking about that strategic plan to go to other universities. But here in Philadelphia, we do have something similar, but it's actually in supermarkets. So not sure if that's another lane you guys are thinking about, but it has been reliable, especially if you guys have a market and it's not close to a beauty supply store.

Just a little tidbit that we have one here. It's working. it's operational, it's doing phenomenal. But that may be your next step if you're interested. Thank you. Mia, I have a question because I'm just curious, you know, what are you guys' background in terms of your major? Are you business backgrounds or is this something that you have an interest in in addition to maybe what you're majoring in in school? Yeah, so I graduated from University of Michigan in 2021

with a communications and media major with a specific focus in sales and marketing. And then my minor is crime and justice. And more recently, I just started business school in business, and I have a specific focus in sales and marketing. And then my minor is crime and justice. And more recently, I just started business school at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. So now I'm adding on that business layer, you know,

with an actual degree. And outside of that, a few years back, about four years ago, I started a business called My Sister's Hair Extensions. And from there, I was kind of like in the beauty industry selling hair extensions and different products for women of color. So that's kind of how I got inside of the beauty industry and how I've kind of, how me and Rico thought of this idea, you know, two years ago. Well, the beauty industry is billions of dollars. So I love to see black folks making money off of what we do because this wasn't cheap either. Rico, same question to you. What's your what's your educational background in terms of your major or degree? So I graduated a month ago. I was a pre-med student.

I just applied to medical school maybe four days ago. But during school, I played on the basketball team. I was a walk-on and basically just did a school in basketball and my coach, Coach Howard, I would always see him at the barbershop. And it was always like a 30-minute drive. And I would say we talked a lot about, you know, not having the products we eat on campus. So I would say, you know, having those talks with my teammates and him kind of got my head thinking. Yeah. Well, clearly you both have range. Like black people often do, especially students. You know, we don't have to be pigeonholed and have a specific degree in order to be a successful entrepreneur.

So congratulations to you both on your graduations and your future plans. Demario, I'm going to give you the last question on this. No, I have a question. I just want to say I'm real proud of these beautiful, powerfully smart young people, young African-Americans. I'm inspired by your your foresight, ingenuity, innovation. And that's what's up, man. Just keep doing this. Keep making this happen. I like what Teresa said to you. I think this is a market everywhere. I mean, I went to University of Oklahoma. I was a walk on football player before I earned a scholarship down there, brother. So I feel you there. Hey, this is needed all over the United States of Oklahoma. I was a walk-on football player before I earned a scholarship down there, brother, so I feel you there.

Hey, this is needed all over the United States of America, so keep doing it, man. There's so much crazy going on, so much negativity. This was just really a story that made me smile and made me happy. I'm really glad I got to meet both of you. Thank you so much. We appreciate

that. We're glad we were able to talk to you today. Well, thank you both for being here. Before you go, I want you to tell us how we can follow you in your journey. You can follow our Instagram. It's actually University Beauty, Y-O-U-N-I-V-E-R-S-I-T-Y. And then beauty. TikTok is Mia Kimora, K-I-M-O-R-A-A. Rico, did you want to add anything? No.

Website. And then our website is innovending.net. Okay. Have you guys trademarked your name? Not yet. We're working on that right now. Do that. You need to do that right now.

ASAP. All right. Working on that right now. I'm glad you brought that up. Make that a priority. That's what the elders got to do. The elders got to help you along the way. So thank you, Rico.

Thank you, Mia, for your brilliance and for being here and letting us know the great things you're working on. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. We'll be right back. Love our new Alexa. it's a buick yeah alexa buick alexa it's a buick it's an alexa it's a buick it's an alexa coach that's a buick that's an alexa the buick enclave with available alexa built-in we're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it or not. From politics to music and entertainment, it's a huge part of our lives. And we're going to talk about it every day right here on The Culture with me, Faraji Muhammad, only on the Black Star Network. How about sushi?

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Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood-Martin, and I have a question for you. Ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders? Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Black Star Network for Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. We'll laugh together, cry together, pull ourselves together, and cheer each other on. So join me for new shows each Tuesday on Black Star Network, A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. I'm Deion Cole and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Stay woke.

Before we go, we want to take a moment and give our Bring the Funk fan club an update on our rural mobile driver, Deshaun Smith, who is returning from New Orleans. Earlier today, he was in an accident an hour outside of Birmingham. Rural mobile is totaled. According to Deshaun, a car jumped in front of him, then slammed on their brakes. Deshaun walked away from his accident, but Roland made him go to the hospital to get checked out. Roland is on his way to Alabama. The RMU staff wants to thank you for

all of your thoughts and prayers and offers of assistance. So that's why Roland wasn't here tonight and I was feeling the end. So I want to thank the panelists as always. Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali had to leave earlier. Teresa Lundy, thank you for holding it down. Demario Solomon-Simmons, thank you for holding it down. I'm Risa Colbert, feeling in for Roland. I'll catch y'all on Thursday. Holla! Thank you.