#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Cop in Rayshard Brooks case reinstated; Rep. Rush: Release Black Panther records; Eviction ban ends

Episode Date: May 6, 2021

5.5.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Cop in Rayshard Brooks shooting reinstated; Rep. Bobby Rush calls for the FBI to release records that show they monitored Black Panthers and civil rights activists; Group of Texas businesses come out against voter suppression laws; National eviction ban endsSupport #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered#RolandMartinUnfiltered is a news reporting platform 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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. to, yeah, banana pudding. If it's happening in business, our new podcast is on it. I'm Max Chastin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Today's Wednesday, May 5th, 2021. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, the fired Atlanta officer responsible for the death of Rayshard Brooks now has his job back.

We will explain why. We'll also have updates on police abuse cases in Louisiana, Colorado, and New Jersey. In Illinois, Congressman Bobby Rush is calling for the release of all records from the FBI that show how they monitored the Black Panthers and other civil rights activists. In Texas, a group of businesses and corporations are appealing to legislators to intervene in the passing of voter suppression laws. Former Trade Ambassador Ron Kirk, one of the signatories, will join us. Also, the national eviction ban has been overturned.

We could leave millions of people at risk of losing their homes. We have all of that. Plus, oh, crazy-ass white person. Did a white Republican in Colorado call a black state legislator buckwheat? Yeah, he did. It's time to breathe the funk and roll the bar unfiltered. Let's go.

He's got it. Whatever the piss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling. Best believe he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics.

With entertainment just for kicks, he's knowing putting it down from sports to news to politics with entertainment just for gigs he's rolling he's funky fresh he's real the best you know he's rolling The cop who killed Rayshard Brooks has his job back. Garrett Ross' termination has been reversed by the Atlanta Civil Service Board due to the city failing to afford his right to due process. He also sued Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Police Chief Rodney Bryant, claiming he used deadly force within the scope and course of his duties. You might remember Rolfe shot Brooks as he was running away in a Wendy's parking lot on June 12th. If we have the video, please show that. This is, folks, and remember, running away in a Wendy's parking lot on June 12th. If we have the video, please show that.

This is, folks, and remember, running away. They were trying to detain him, but he ran away by fire. Roll it, please. He is facing 11 charges, including felony murder. The Brooks family attorney, they also addressed the media today following news of the officer's reinstatement. You know, this entire thing with the firing is not about the case, whether it's justified or not.

It's about the city. You know, that's what we're trying to make clear. This is not about whether he's guilty or not guilty. This was a procedural error where Officer Rolfe didn't get his rights that apparently the procedures and policies have in place. So that's what we're not commenting about, whether it was right or wrong. I mean, they clearly, from what the board said,

did not follow the proper procedures for them. And that's just an error that cannot happen. Let's go to our panel. A. Scott Bolden, former chair, National Bar Association Political Action Committee. Monique Presley, legal analyst and crisis manager. And we'll be joined a little bit later by Robert Petillo, executive director, Rainbow Push Coalition, Peachtree Street Project. All right, Monique, I'll start with you. You have represented both sides of this.

Your thoughts on the reinstatement? Well, I agree with my former law student, L. Chris Stewart, ESQ. This is not about guilt or innocence. This is not about right or wrong. This is a procedural matter. And it's unfortunate, but I know we're covering it later in the show, but it's analogous to me to the way that the defense counsel filed a motion for new trial in the Chauvin case. Certain things happen all of the time procedurally, and it doesn't mean that this is the end of the road or that there won't be a better outcome. So I'm not too bothered by where we are right now. And the thing, Scott, he's saying that he followed procedure. Again, we're showing the video right here, folks. If this triggers you, please turn

away. And they were trying to detain him. They were trying to he was tussling with the officers. They were trying to put handcuffs on him. And in a moment, what you're going to see is you're going to see Rayshard Brooks again try to run away. The officer fires what the public keeps saying. The public keeps saying is, is, is why are you using why are you using lethal force? Why are you using lethal force? Why are you using lethal force? That's what people keep saying when somebody's running away from you. Didn't have a weapon. Didn't have a weapon.

Didn't have a knife or a gun. And so the argument that was made by the Atlanta mayor and the police chief was, sorry, you got to go. Yeah, you're absolutely right about that. But but, Roland, you know, I keep using the same case analysis. Well, why why do the police go from zero to a deadly force? There's no in between with them. They're not not trying to do not in this case here. Again, if y'all could just go back, not the beginning, go back to the, you'll see there where Rolf pulls his taser out. He fires a taser. Okay. Uh, and then, then he then pulls the gun out. But again, what, what folks keep saying is, okay, he's running away from you. If he's running at you, if he's trying to charge into you, How is your life threatened? How is the life of

citizens threatened if somebody's running away from the police? You got his ID. You got his car. Ain't like you can't find him. Deadly force is deadly force. Or, you know, you could chase him. Or how about you don't chase him and say, hey, we're going to bust your ass when you get tired. Don't worry about it. We're going to find you. Basically, basically. But remember this too, Roland. Tennessee v. Garner, you've heard me talk about this case. 1986, I did a published case note on it. It got published in Illinois, as well as Howard Law Journal, where it said, the Supreme Court said in 1986, it is unlawful, illegal to use deadly force on a nonviolent fleeing felon. It was based on a case in Memphis.

That law holds today. That case has never been overturned. Every municipality and police department ought to be training their officers on that because it's clear. It's clear in that case a young kid was trying to climb a wall and the police shot him. He was unarmed. He was a nonviolent fleeing felon. And they reversed, sent it back down, and the municipality of Memphis paid millions of dollars or hundreds of thousands of dollars for that liability.

Every case we're seeing today in the last two or three years, it's Tennessee v. Garner. It's fundamentally wrong. And yet these police departments and these police officers keep shooting nonviolent fleeing felon, period. It's dumb. It's just dumb acts on the part of the police. And that really, Monique, is what we keep hearing from folks here. And what you also are seeing, this happens in other cities as well. We've been covering this where they are looking to to change this. The police chief, actually, the mayor of Columbus, Ohio. He talked about the difficulty of firing officers who commit wrongdoing because they get hired right back or get or gets overturned by arbitrators.

Can I ask a question? Roland? Yeah, I haven't left. I'm right here. I ask permission to ask the question. I don't want to overstep. What? In the video, when he turns around, he's running and then turns around.

Was that an active stun gun? I don't know. Play the video. Here we go. Guys, play the video. We'll walk through it. Hey! Here we go. All right. So this is the video being played here um in a moment you're about to see uh this is where uh one of the officers has his stun gun out uh i thought so they're trying to put the handcuffs on him uh then let's see here uh one officer's trying to jump on his back. Then all of a sudden,

they're both trying, they're tussling with him. You're going to see in a second, he is going to, he is going, he grabbed the stun gun from one officer. Then one is chasing away, chasing away. and then... Did you see what, you saw what I just saw? Right, right, right. So what you saw there was, I believe that Rashard had a stun gun in his right hand, and then he pointed it back and aimed it at the officer.

Then the officer then dropped his stun gun and then pulled out his firearm and then fired shots into him. Right. So have they determined if that one was active? No, we don't know that. Okay. Okay.

But the issue... You know, I mean, I call balls and strikes. And obviously, that's my former law student colleague and friend Chris Stewart's case. And I still do not think that deadly force was necessary. And I think that officers go to that more than they should, as Scott said. But of course, this is not the Tennessee v. Garner case. This is not where it's their first thing. We saw an escalation.

They tussled first. They tried to restrain him. They tried to use handcuffs. They tried to use physical strength. They went to stun gun after that. He stole the stun gun, ran with the stun gun, and instead of just running away with the stun gun, he turned and aimed the stun gun at the officer. That's a problem. If it was active or not, if it was like the Pamela Turner case in Baytown, which we all are getting ready to march for,

where there was no way that the stun gun could have been used again. That's one thing. But I am just saying that what we see plainly on this video is not our best case scenario of what we would like to see when we're trying to put forth these cases. Right. Now, the former DA, Paul Howard, Scott, who was the D.A. then at Fulton County, he said that. Scott is steady talking. What is happening? I'm steady getting ignored. No. First of all, we lost your signal. I'm back. Yeah. Now you're back.

I've been back. Now you're back, which is why I'm tossing to you. So what happens in television is when we lose your signal, we wait for you to come back. And then when you come back, we want to make sure that you're there. And so what I then do as a way of acknowledging you, I set up the statement by saying, Scott, Paul Howard said this, and then I'm going to go to you. So if the two of y'all could just sit there and be the guest and allow me to host, but y'all always want to act up on Wednesday. Don't nobody else do this. No, I am.

Not tonight. Nope. Not tonight. But that's still, that incident in Atlanta. Again, let me finish the statement and then you can talk. Allow me to finish the statement and then you can talk. Then DA Paul Howard said, quote, there was no immediate threat to the officers. Exactly.

And the police in Tennessee v. Garner struggled with that suspect and were chasing that suspect. It doesn't matter whether they struggled or not. The bottom line is you cannot use deadly force if he's trying to get away from you, if he's a nonviolent fleeing felon. If he was shooting somebody or was a threat to the officers, then, okay, maybe you use deadly force. It may not be the perfect case factually overall. I agree with Monique there. But the reality is deadly force is used way too much by these police departments to compel performance, to compel compliance. We got to get away from that. That needs to go, be the exhibit one in reforming how we train police and who we pick to get guns and badges to.

Using deadly force should be the last resort, not the first resort. That's why you got so many black people being killed by police officers on the color law with a gun, with a badge and under the American flag on their uniform. Shooting and killing black people simply because they're not complying with a police order. Dumb. But Scott, did you hear, you're saying you agree with me, but I'm asking if you see the video where he turns around and aims the stun gun. And I'm asking the question that I think is necessary for an answer. Was it live? Was it a stun gun that could suspects who are not just trying to get away will use the stun gun to incapacitate the officer and then use the officer's weapon against them or take it and use it against other people. So we, we backed up like five felonies real quickly in a row in that scenario. So the,

the, the, but, but Monday does not have to be met with stun gun. That's not, that's not use of force protocol. No, I get it. I get it.

And in those steel frames, because the police officer is making decisions every couple of seconds under that scenario, right? So you're absolutely right. If the defendant has a stun gun, all of those scenarios come to mind, he can use deadly force. But at the same, in the subsequent frames, if he's got the stun gun and he's not a threat to the police officers and he's running, I don't think, I don't think it's appropriate or proper or lawful for the police officers to pull out his gun while he's running away. He gets five feet. So let's do this here. He gets five feet away to fire. I just don't think that's appropriate.

That's not deadly force on deadly force. So the thing here is, so I'm going to put, so you had stepped, we had lost your signal, Scott. And so what we're going to do is, I'm going to try to pull it up again. So there was body camera footage that was released. And what it did was it actually showed that particular point, that particular point when he was running away, and then he had grabbed the stun gun. So let's pick it up right here.

So you see right here, Scott, so you see the tussle. Then all of a sudden, then you're going to see in the moment, you're going to see, so you see one of the officers grab the stun gun. He's trying to shoot him in the leg. Rayshard then grabs the stun gun, and now he's tussling with the officer over the stun gun. Then in a moment, you're going to see him stand up. He's going to have the stun gun in his left hand.

He's going to switch to his right hand in just a moment. Right. So you see the stun gun left hand. He pushes them off. He now pushes off. The officer raw fires the stun gun. He's now running away. So that was the dash cam footage.

So come back to me. What I'm going to try to find is I'm going to try to find the other angle. So that was just simply one angle. The other angle you actually saw the angle of the shooting taking place. Give me a second. I'm trying to fast forward it here. Because you're going to see the angle of where it was fired.

Right, that would be helpful. Monique, was he shot running away with the stun gun facing the officer? If you follow my question. Right, no. The stun gun facing the officer, if you follow my question, or no? No, by the time the shots were fired, I think he had swiveled. But, you know, that's the concern. This is one of those very— Because even when we look at what we just saw, right, you see, yes, ultimately he starts running away.

But it looks like he kicked two officers' asses before he ran away because they were trying to handcuff him. And then, and that did not work. Then they try to stun him and he snatches the stun and of course we can go back to whether it was whether the stop was justified or not because i don't want i know listeners get so upset with me when i try to call these straight um which i feel like is my obligation to do y''all, what I am saying is not that the initial stop was justified because likely it wasn't. And I am in favor of these traffic stops period.

When we talk about whether it's defund police, whether it's reallocate police, whatever wording you want to use, I would like for our traffic stops to become much safer because they are handled by people who cannot make life and death decisions because they're not carrying the weapons to be able to do that.

So that even the most hardened criminal knows that if he gets pulled over because his tag is expired, what he's going to get is a ticket because his tag is expired. Okay, here we go. Here we go. Here we go. So, Scott, watch this. They find criminals anyway. So, Scott, watch this here. Okay, I was just filling time.

Scott, watch this. You're going to see all of a sudden Rayshard and the officer come in from the left side. Here we go. Officer firing a stun gun. Rayshard turns back, points the stun gun. And then that's when at that moment, that's when the officer pulls his gun out and then shoots Rayshard. The second officer. No, the lead officer. He was bringing it back here. You will see it again right here. You're going to see it right here.

Here you go. Rayshard officer is pointing a stun gun.. Ray Shaw turns, points the stun gun back at the cop. Cop then pulls his gun out. That's when he fires shots at him. Yeah, okay. Now, at that angle, he's not. Okay, I withdraw. That looks terrible. I withdraw my Tennessee v. Garner piece because he's got the stun gun.

That's not this. Right, that's not this. He's got the stun gun. He's got's not this. He's got the stun gun. He's got a weapon. He's not nonviolent right now. He'd be better off getting rid of that stun gun. But he fired on the officer. It looks like he hit the officer and the officer fired.

That's what it looked like. I need to see. Is there nothing? Yeah. No. What we don't have, I don't believe they have released the body. I don't know if the body cam footage of Rolfe was released. Again, this is the video here.

I don't believe the body cam footage of Rolfe has been released because the other body cam footage we saw was from. Because he falls up against the red car. Watch this. Well, he's, well, actually the problem there is you see him going, but he actually doesn't. Because this video here, they freeze it versus allowing it to continue. We'll find the other video and then where you actually saw it.

Because at that point, he pulls his gun. Yeah, because in this video, it looks like he got hit by the sniper. Right, but actually, the other video, he pulls his gun out, and then that's when he fires. Because in that one, you see he's still running. What happens is officer pulls his gun out, fires at Ray Sharp.. Rayshard goes down immediately. Robert Petillo joins us right now. Robert, what do you make of the, what do you make of the people giving Rolf his job back, but still the contention of the former DA, Paul Howard, as well as the family of Rayshard Brooks that the officer still use excessive force? Your thoughts? Well, I think it's absolutely excessive force. I think that what we are seeing is the power of

police unions in this country and also the ability and leeway that are given to officers in excessive force cases. This is why it's so important to pass that George Floyd Justice and Policing Act, because what we've seen nationwide is that officers who have sometimes dozens of complaints of excessive force, they go 100 miles down the road and find a new job at another police department, or they're able to appeal their cases and then get their jobs back. We saw also the two college students here in Atlanta who were tased and pepper sprayed for no apparent reason. Those officers were filed and then ultimately given their jobs back also. So Robert, you believe that even though the video that we showed, Rayshard Brooks had grabbed a stun gun and was running and pointed it back at the cops,

that they still, that Roth still used excessive force, should be fired? Well, I think you have to roll the video back to the beginning of the interaction. Remember, this interaction began with a man who was passed out in his car in a Wendy's drive-thru, a Wendy's I've been to before. And I think we have to look at the way we do policing in this country and the fact that, frankly, if someone's passed out in their car, instead of sending two armed police officers to address the issue, you should send an ambulance to find out why this person is passed out. They could have had a heart attack. They could have had a stroke.

We don't know. So why is it that that is automatically the response to an African-American is to send armed officers to the situation. I think secondarily, they spoke to this young man, Rashard Brooks, for several minutes. They articulated to him what was going on. I think during this period of time would have been the time to de-escalate the situation, take him into custody peacefully, and take him to the hospital to get the medical care that he needed. The escalation doesn't start at the point when they're on their the excessive force and escalation the starting point and they're running away the use of excessive force starts from the entire interaction from the beginning and the fact that these officers were unable to take a

Passed-out man into custody without weapons being drawn and a foot chase taking place. This is restraining. It goes into police Accountability. This is the video of him in the breath Eliza pull the audio up, please I said babe, you know, have a good time. And I said, babe, you know, I'm hungry. Let's go. My baby's mom, she was there. I said, babe, go ahead. I'm cool.

You know, here's the money for the blow up bed tomorrow. Here's the money for, you know, to enjoy herself tomorrow. Just, you know, give me a burger or something. Just take me home. I'm ready to go. So you had about one and a half drinks, but you don't remember what kind of drinks they were?

No, sir. All right. I really don't, Mr. R. All right. I think you've had too much to drink to be dry. Put your hands behind your back for me. Put your hands behind your back for me. Put your hands behind your back. All right.

Stop fighting. Stop fighting. Stop fighting. You're going to get charged. You're going to get charged. So that's where, again, that was the body camera footage of Rolf. So I'm not quite sure what happened there where I don't know if his camera fell off or whatever there. So

again, so I have all three of you on. Okay, so let's talk about, again, policing. Here's somebody slumped over, breathalyzer, they want to handcuff him. You saw that was not, it wasn't acrimonious.

It wasn't until they tried to cuff him. Then all of a sudden the scuffle ensues. The question that still that people are raising, it goes to, okay, you have this scuffle, you have back and forth, and he's scuffling with two officers. Even the point when he takes off do you use deadly force there's nothing on the flip side of death death is death so do you use deadly force and from a policing standpoint how do you change police policy in in this case when you're trying to detain someone you try to cuff him he resists he tussles with both officers fights with both officers and then grabs the stun gun of one and then starts taking off running roth follows him with the stun gun then when he points back with the stun gun then he pulls the gun out. So the

question is this here. Are you saying Robert Scott, which is different from Monique, are you saying that the officers should allow him just to take off and say, all right, this was, this was suspected drunk driver. He taken off running. I'm not about to sit here and chase after him and potentially fire my gun at him. What should the policy be for officers in that situation? Well, if you're starting with me, I would say from the beginning of the interaction, when you're speaking to him in the police, in his vehicle, at that point in time, you could have handcuffed him then and then have the entire conversation with him already handcuffed. But hold on, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but,

but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, right here. This is the officer going into his car. He's getting the breathalyzer kit. Okay. You see it right here. This is Rolf's camera. Okay. Now pull the audio up, please. All right. Just take a deep breath in. Put your mouth over the mouthpiece. Blow as hard as you

can until I tell you to stop. Blow, blow, blow, blow, blow, blow, blow, blow, blow, blow, stop. Very good. Actually, that wasn't Roth. Apparently, that was the other officer. How many? Yeah. One and a half.

Yeah. So, Robert, they're having a conversation. They're having a conversation. Takes the breathalyzer test. They're asking him about drinks, all those things. This is at the start. This was about a minute and a half before they said, sir, you're going to hear it a second.

I said, babe, you know, I'm hungry. Let's go. My baby's mom, she was there. I said, babe, go ahead. I'm cool. You know, here's the money for the blow up bed tomorrow. Here's the money for, you know, to enjoy herself tomorrow. Just, you know, give me a burger or something. Just take me home. I'm ready to go. So you had about one and a half drinks, but you don't remember what kind of drinks they were?

No, sir. All right. I read it all, Mr. R. All right, I think you've had too much to drink to be dry. Put your hands behind your back for me. Put your hands behind your back. Okay, so Robert, you just heard that whole exchange. What did they do wrong in your estimation?

Well, one, as I said, I think that in situations like that, when somebody is passed out drunk, you can't expect them to make rational decisions thereafter. So initially, I think that conversation should have happened at Grady Hospital, quite frankly, where you, where somebody is passed out and you take them to the hospital. Okay. Okay. But how, okay. Robert, Robert, how do you get him? One, one second, Scott, how do you get him? One second, Scott. How do you get him to Grady Hospital? While he is passed out in the car, you handcuffed him and then start having the conversation. You put him on a gurney, put him in the ambulance.

You take him to the hospital. This happens all the time. Well, no, Rob, Rob, Rob, Rob, Rob, Rob, Rob, Rob, Rob, Rob, Rob, Rob, Rob, Rob. He was passed out. But then they woke him up. He was lucid. You heard him there. The whole conversation, it was a fairly decent, not contentious conversation. When they said, they talked to him, sir, we're going to arrest you.

Then please turn around. I'm just, I mean, again, I'm not, this is not, oh, you're defending the cops. Ray Shaw was wrong. What I'm trying to understand is if we're going to have this conversation about what the cops should do, that's different. What happened there that should have been done differently up until that point when he resisted? As I said, I think that even from an officer safety perspective, that frankly, having the two officers surrounding him at the time, somebody who was just passed out drunk, that they probably should have had him already restrained at the time that you're having this conversation. You articulate what the issues were.

If you find that he passes the breathalyzer test, that there are no remaining issues, do you release him into the pub to go home? If you find that there are issues, do you take him in for medical care? If you find that there's some criminality, you take him into custody. I think a foot chase in the middle of the night is probably the worst of all possible outcomes in this situation. And that comes from police not following the proper steps to secure the scene prior to executing an arrest. Scott. Robert, you are bastardizing the police procedure and process. People, he fell asleep in the car at the drive-thru because he was drunk.

They gave him a breathalyzer. They were very professional with him. And if you say that was a lucid conversation, first of all, don't ever admit you had something to drink to the police. Ever. Even if you did have something to drink to the police, because you're going to get arrested if you're driving. He said, I had one and a half drinks, but I don't know what I had. Well, I got to presume you had a whiskey or you had a vodka or to a beer. Don't admit that. Once he admitted that, he's going. He's going. I don't care, because he's driving, and one and a half drinks in most jurisdictions will get you to.08. So once he admitted that and he blew, I couldn't tell what he blew,

they were going to arrest him. Once they arrested him, secondly, don't be, he's tussling in the streets with the police trying to get away. That's a dangerous situation. But he's driving that narrative. The police aren't driving that narrative. He is. They're reacting. Got it. Hits the gun. Right. And then he starts to run. Then he points it at them. Right. He points the stun gun, the stun gun. With a stun gun, he could be dangerous to himself, he could be dangerous to the police officers. If you let him go, he's still got a stun gun illegally stolen from the police, and they

draw fire and then they shoot. I can't tell you whether it's a close call on a discretionary judgment piece on do I shoot or do I use my stun gun, but I know one thing. I know I've got a fleeing felon, I know he's got a gun, and I know he's dangerous now because he's got that stun gun and it's stolen from the police department. That's a lot for the police to process.

A lot. Monique. Yes, I'm here. No, I'm saying time you talk go i was starting jesus y'all y'all yes i i i was here i'm present and accounted for man come on go bobby come on bobby rush is waiting let's go i agree with scott and I am concerned. Robert, the whole way that we maintain some authority as experts on good shoot, bad shoot, no shoot, right,

on what excessive force is and isn't, what police misconduct is and isn't, is if when it's a close call, when it is what is unfortunate, but a justified shoot, or when it's a case like this, where from the reasonable officer's perspective, it could have gone either way, I think we have to concede that. Yes, I have said that the start of this interaction

could have gone differently, but we have to keep in mind the officers didn't wander there on their own. They were called because there was a man behind the wheel of a vehicle who was sleeping, not in a parked space, but in the drive-through lane. And so what I see from officers is in alerting him and waking him up, he puffs on his own. He's answering questions on his own um i'm not going to say if he hadn't resisted arrest he'd still be alive i don't know that got it and i don't know that that was the single thing but it is closer to that in this situation than in others because it's very obvious that the only time they had a scuffle was when Mr. Brooks refused to, with no warning really, refused to be handcuffed. And that even then, when he had kind of bodied one of them,

where he was lifted off the ground and fell and pushed the other one to the side, even then, they went for stun gun, not gun gun. Got it. And I know plenty of officers who would not, that it would have been a gun the first time. And we've seen those cases. But in this case, they're running behind him trying to stun him even though he's already snatched one of the stun guns.

And you know that that's dangerous. To let a person loose in the community with a department-issued weapon that can harm themselves or others. That's textbook. Got to go to the next. I got to go to the next. But real quick. No, no, Scott. No, no, no.

I got to go to the next story. I've been on this for 50 minutes and Congressman Bobby Rush has been waiting for 10 minutes. I got to go to the next story. And that is this here. Congresswoman, Congressman Bobby Rush from Illinois, former Black Panther. He wants a law passed will require the FBI to release all information with regards to their monitoring of the Black Panthers and other civil rights activists. In addition to requiring the release of files from COINTELPRO, the new bill will also remove the name of J Edgar Hoover from the FBI headquarters. Congressman Rush joins

us right now. Congressman Rush, glad to have you here. There's been renewed focus on this because of the movie Judas and the Black Messiah, of course, which tells the story of Fred Hampton and William O'Neill, who was the informant who set Fred Hampton up and got him murdered. Why in the world we're at this point now? Why aren't all those documents released? We've had documentaries. We've had books.

There are different things on COINTELPRO. What has been the holdup of releasing and making sure it's unredacted files released showing everything about how the federal government targeted black people, black activists? Well, first of all, I appreciate you, your friendship over the years, and I welcome this opportunity to be on your show once again. And to answer your question, frankly, timing is everything. And I think there's a conversion of interest and events that really says that this is the proper time to ensure that the files that have been kept in secret by the Department of Justice on the COINTELP program and the lives that it caused and the hurt and pain that it costs over the years that be exposed. So this is a need, and it wasn't done before, but, you know, as you know, I'm the sponsor of a million-a-week lynching of federal law, and

we've been trying to get that bill passed or, you know, federal law gets lynched for 102 years. So I don't know. This is the right time for it, Roland.

That's all I can say. It's the right time for it. The. That's all I can say. It's the right time for it. The thing that jumps out here, again, is that, like I said, we've had these stories. We've had all of these things. We've had, like I say, the documentaries and the movies and things along those lines. But we still do not know the full extent to which the FBI

deliberately attacked black people. In a few years, these audio tapes of Dr. King are going to be released. And David Garrow has already written a story based upon the FBI notes and its salacious material making all kinds of different allegations of extramarital affairs. This FBI agent writes down

that there was this alleged rape that took place, orgies, all this sort of stuff. And it shows the extent to which J. Edgar Hoover, and let's remember, those wiretaps were authorized first by Attorney General Bobby Kennedy. And how the FBI targeted not just King, but targeted Fred Hampton. And then, of course, now the FBI gave the directive to kill Fred Hampton. Why would folks fight it? Why would they fight it?

Do you believe your Republican colleagues will go along with the release of this information? Well, that may play a part in it. I'm not really certain. But that might be something that becomes a reality. But I think that more than anything else, one of the outstanding factors that exists right now is the fact that we got an attorney general, Merrick Garland, who seems to me anxious to do the right thing. And I think that he's probably motivated by his treatment for a nomination to the Supreme Court. So he's a more dedicated ally right now. I think that the Biden administration has certainly created a scenario because based on the dynamics and the South Carolina influence on his total election. So I think that history has revealed this as a moment in time that we should go forward. I've seen knowledge about the FBI's, as you said, spying, not only spying, but creating havoc. I mean, in the instance of the FBI tried to create a gang war, a street war between the Black Panther Party and the Black Snow Rangers.

I mean, that's pretty well documented. And we were smart enough to avoid that. So the scurrilous, underhanded, lawless, racist history of the FBI as it relates to the black movement, liberation movement, movement for human rights, movement for justice in America. It has to be exposed. Now, all those, including Gary Ways, all those, we've never had the federal government that says, our agents, our Department of Justice assassinated Fred Hampton. Smile on Dr. King. Smile on Malcolm X. Smile on Billie Holiday.

Smile on countless others, not just African Americans, but whites and Hispanics all across the board. So we want, under that COINTELP program, that decades-long program, we want every comma, every period, every sentence, every word, we want it revealed to the American public. We want to know how much money that the FBI agent,

who was William O'Neill's handler, how much money did he get? Because that's tax bill money. So do you, okay, so you have a bill. So do you want a 21st century church commission? Do you want like the House Select Committee on Assassinations? Are you

calling on Speaker Pelosi to set that up? I'm not asking for a congressional committee of any type. I'm saying that the federal government, the executive branch, give up the good. Turn, open up the book,

let the American people see what this COINTELPRO So you're saying that you want President Joe Biden to declassify I want to be just clear. You want President Joe Biden to declassify all documents related to COINTELPRO.

I think that when you say declassify, first of all, I want him and the administration, I want his administration to justify classifying this information, particularly the murder of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark after 52 years. I want them to justify this being classified information. And if you can't justify it, then—and not—and we—Mike Mueller says we're going to set up a committee of unincident parties that will look at those documents that you classified and make sure that these documents will stand as scrutiny. Got it. So we want them to open up the books,

reveal the truth about Fred Hampton's assassination. Let me just say this to you, Roland, and you know this. When Fred Hampton's assassination was the only assassination in American history that was ordered by the state. There was a state sponsored, federal government sponsored assassination of an American citizen. No, nobody else who's been assassinated in this country. Abraham Lincoln,

Servant, McKinney, and nothing. None of them were assassinated by an official arm of the federal government. Got it. And we want to know how much money was paid through J.F. Hoover to Roy Mitchell and to William O'Neill as reward money. Got it.

Money for President Hampton and Mark Claus' life. That's what we want to know. So last question for you. Have you sent a letter directly to President Biden asking for this to be done? No, I sent a letter to Merrick Brownlee. To the Attorney General? To the Attorney General. I talked to the Biden administration just this very afternoon.

All right. And now I'm sending that that I've introduced a meal, H.R. 2998, that will have the input model of the U.S. Congress in line with this demand to get COINTELPRO every sentence of it, every paragraph, every knot in it, released to the American public. Congressman Bobby Rush, Illinois, we appreciate it.

Thank you so very much. We'll certainly follow up with the White House and the Department of Justice, see what they say. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. I want to go to my panel here, Robert Portillo, Scott Bolden, Monique Presley. Robert, I'll start with you on this. The request is simple. Release all those documents related to COINTELPRO. Well, you know, it's interesting because you would have thought that this would

have happened already. You thought this would have happened during either the Obama or the Clinton administration before that. This is one of the most shameful parts of American history that we still deny until this day. If you talk to many black people, even, especially some of your white counterparts, and talk to them about COINTELPRO, many of them have no idea that this is part of American history. The letters from J. Edgar Hoover to Martin Luther King, the spying of the Black Panthers, the number of African-Americans who are still political prisoners until this day are living in exile overseas as a result of the programs of the federal government, not to mention the numbers who died in prison cells because of their activities in seeking the liberation of African-Americans

in this country. When we talk about the people who fought and died for us to have the rights that we have today, it wasn't just singing. It wasn't just marching. It wasn't just Selma and Montgomery and some hoses and some lunch counters. There are people who sacrifice absolutely everything that our American government is marching. It wasn't just Selma and Montgomery and some hoses and some lunch counters. There are people who sacrifice absolutely everything that our American government is covering up until this day. It's crucial for this information and more information to come out. We need all the

files to be thrown open. Frankly, I think the scope is actually too small. I would like to see everything from reconstruction until the present day being thrown open as to what was done to stagnate the progress of African Americans in this country. And when people have these questions about why the Black community isn't the state it is currently, you cannot look at that without looking at the role of the federal government in stagnating and destroying Black leadership and preventing us from reaching many of the goals that we set out as a community. Monique? Right. So I guess I think what would be important,

because there may be entire generations of people at this point who have no idea what COINTELPRO is or means or why it's important or why Congressman Rush is fighting for release. But COINTELPRO, guys, is a shortened version of counterintelligence program. And it was one that for a discrete period of time, many decades before I was born, but through a year after I was born, was utilized for our government to spy on its own citizens. And specifically on the organizations under which we were organizing in order to advance civil rights. And so the work that they did, which was illegal, should be exposed. And for those who know about what happened, the opposite side of the argument is that it would be destabilizing because we maybe would find out too much about how the big, bad boogeyman is us.

It was the FBI. It was Hoover. But I know these are things that kids don't even know anything about and therefore maybe can't get behind. So you're a wiki search away or a Google search away from understanding why these counterintelligence programs that our government says were passed are actually present and will be future if we don't require this level of transparency. So I am in favor of the transparency without a showing of reasons why we can't know these things that were supposedly, you know, I'm 50 now. So this happened a half a century ago, basically, from 1956 to maybe 1971. But we do need that information. And for any of you who are just hearing about

these things for the first time or don't know that when you hear COINTELPRO, that's what it's labeled under, this is what we're talking about. And it's important because it affects the way that until freedom is maybe surveilled. It affects the way BLM is surveilled. It affects the way we move now, whether it's Black Voters Matter, NAACP, LDF, all of our organizations. We stay safe out in the open light and knowing that our own government does not have permission through the Constitution

to spy on us through the Federal Bureau of Investigations. And so this does matter. Scott. Scott. He agreed with me. The reality is Scott, you gotta work on your Wi-Fi, man. You've been going in

and out all damn day. You need to work on your system. No, I got my system. Hold up. Monique and Robert haven't gone down. They did. They just came back before me. No, they didn't. Let me just say this.

That's that janky computer you have. Must be a PC. Go. Okay, anyway, let me just say real quick. Don't forget about Nixon's hit list. And for the young people out here, don't forget about the Trump administration. Because let me tell you, all three of us, all four of us would be on Nixon's hit list and probably on Trump's surveillance, given our efforts to save the

country. These were freedom fighters in the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s. They were speaking out. And be honest with you, they were under physical and violent attacks on a daily basis. So they took up arms too, including the Black Panther Party, not because they were a violent vigilante group, but to protect themselves and protect the black community. And so it's really, really important, but the annals of history will show.

And if you notice what Judge Amy Berman did today, why this is so very important, is because she just released, or ordered to be released, Bill Bars, or Bob Bars, rather, the former AG. His documents and his write-ups and memos on why he decided not to prosecute the president that they had buried at the AG's office, but because of Judge Amy Berman, who I've appeared before several times, she's released that order that's released, and then the lies, and found in an order, a written order by a federal judge

that he had purposefully misled DOJ officials and the public, and the public about his non-prosecution of Trump. That it was a political memo that originated within the AG's office and that he purposefully misled us in regard to the decision to not prosecute Donald Trump. That's a huge case. I don't know if we're talking about it, but this is what this bill gets to and what the congressman is talking about. Hey, I'm all for it. I'm all for it. Speaking of all for it, folks, you have written by Fair Elections Texas urging Republicans to uphold equality when it comes to voting. This is what they wrote. Quote, We believe the growth of free enterprise is directly related to the freedom of its citizens.

Freedom is preserved in our democracy when we hold free and fair elections that protect the fundamental rights of all Texans. We believe that Texas elections should be convenient, transparent, and secure. We believe the right to vote is sacred. When more people participate in our democratic process, we will all prosper. We stand together as a nonpartisan coalition calling on all elected leaders in Texas to support reforms and make democracy more accessible and oppose any changes that would restrict eligible voters' access to the ballot. Now, what has happened in Texas is that the letter from Fair Elections Texas arrives on the heels of voter bills passed by the Texas Senate

that would slash extended polling hours, prohibit drive-through voting, and make it more difficult for people with disabilities to vote by mail. Joining us right now is the former mayor of Dallas and also the former U.S. trade representative and somebody with an okay golf game, Ron Kirk. Always good to see you. You know, you just you just got to go there. Good to hear from you, my brother. Indeed. Always glad to see you. Good to talk with you. Look, let's just cut to the chase. Republicans are trash all across the country.

They are pissed off at Donald Trump loss. They have they have chosen to cut to the chase. Republicans are trash all across the country. They're pissed off at Donald Trump laws. They have chosen to go with the lie. They have chosen to support it in every single way possible. You've got Senator Ted Cruz, who spoke truthfully about Donald Trump once, yet he posted a photo today of him having dinner with Donald Trump. They want to use their power controlling state legislatures to literally shrink the opportunity for folks to vote because they want to rig future elections. Roland, you and I both are Texas boys. And as we say down there, that ain't a question,

that's an answer. I mean, I don't know how I could put it any more plainly than that. And now the reason I think you're seeing corporate America stick their neck out and wade in the territory that many of them normally don't, they don't like getting involved in partisan fights. But we have seen corporate America's for the rights of their employees, as they've done years ago. Corporate America was way ahead of the government in offering health care to the partners of those who weren't married. They were way ahead of the government protecting the rights of the LGBTQ community and the trans community. And just as they spoke out against those horrific events that we saw in Washington on January the 6th, now we'll say we did challenge them,

and thank God for the leadership of Kim Chenault and Kim Frazier at the national level, that this was not an issue they could sit on the sidelines. And Roland, I was so looking forward to being with you because I knew you would break it down for what it is. If I hear one more time, you know, what's the matter with voter ID? And if I have to show an ID to get on the point, this isn't about voter ID. Right. Most of these states already have voter identification standards in place. This isn't about ballot integrity. I know it was a different topic, but as both of the prior speakers noted, it was Donald Trump's own attorney general that said, look, this was a fair election.

There was no fraud. Hold up. Fifty states certified it. Republican secretaries of state. They have said even they were wrong. You have the secretary of state in Georgia who supported, who supported Trump. OK. And but look what Georgia did. They turned around and tried to strip him, or effectively have stripped him of most of his discretionary authority in that legislation in Georgia.

And, Roland, if we were just—I know you and I can argue about who's more proud of Texas A&M or Texas. But I got to tell you, our leadership in Austin has taken this foolishness to an entirely different level, which is why I have been so forcefully engaged. They are doing everything they can to empower these so-called election observers, who now could be any of those people that we saw storming the Capitol and involved in an effort to try to literally overthrow our very democracy. Well, in Texas, they're going to give them more power than they're going to give election judges. And they are criminalizing potentially the behavior of election judges who sadly you and I know most election judges are

retired 60 70 year old women it's a deal my mama and daddy they are two of the most in demand election judges poll workers in Dallas County they Because nobody else wants to sit there all week long. And then guess what? They've trained my sister and my sister's daughter. There's three generations of my family working these polling locations. But what they're doing is, and this is what people don't understand. This year, in 2020, actually in 2020, Democrats were five seats away from taking control of the Texas House. Republicans in Texas were so pissed off at Democrats whooped their asses in Dallas County and Harris County,

they got rid of straight ticket voting. I need everybody to understand the game. They got rid of straight ticket voting Republicans used to kill Democrats at. Well, Democrats got smart, flipped that switch, and all of a sudden, Dallas County, where you live, used to be, used to be, Republicans ran everything. Flipped it, all of a sudden, Democrats sweep. Harris County, Houston, sweep. They've been losing in the suburbs. And so they're now freaking out because what they're looking at is they're like, oh my goodness, all that recruiting of companies from out of other, other states, they bring the employees with them and their

political ideology. So now they're scared. They're mad at Chris Harrison, Harris County, who created the drive through voting. I don't understand. No, there's no Republican that can explain to me what is wrong with sitting in your car, pulling up, showing your ID, handing a ballot, filling it out, handing it back, and saying, no, no, no, you got to physically walk into the building.

Brolin, I'm just a little bit, I guess, which I hate saying it because I know you'll use it, but I'm old enough to be your big brother. And I'm 66 years old. So I've lived to see my parents have to fight the poll tax and your parents. Yeah. When we got on those buses and we're back with rocks and cuffs. And we used to always say when people, Republicans would always say, we're not opposed to busing. We're just opposed to this. And we have this saying, it ain't the bus, it's us. And there's nothing wrong with anything you articulated. It's the fact that we got created, which we should have done during the most frightening, dangerous health pandemic in 100 years in our country.

Chris Harris should be lauded as being a hero. That's right. For coming up for more ways for people who were registered, legally entitled to vote to do so. But what I want your listeners to understand, particularly if you listen, you can't sit this one out. You have got to get involved. The Republicans are trying to couch this, as Roland

said, as valid security and integrity. And they will ask, you know, how much fraud's enough? This wasn't about fraud. I mean, think about this. More people have been killed by gun violence and mass shootings in probably the last three months that they found had illegally voted in the entire 2020 presidential election. But yet every time you bring up doing something to control guns and make our country safer, the first thing they do is go, oh, this is a second amendment right, now's not the time to do it. Well, there is no right more critical to the functioning of our democracy than the right to vote. And you know what's worse, what really offends me, Roland, and you mentioned it, and God bless your parents, we've only had the right to vote for the last 50 years.

That's right. That's right. I mean, it's really only been since the passage of the Voting Rights Act, you know, 1965, that we've had the right to vote. And yet now they want to implement some of the same tactics that they put in place then so that they could make sure that they could ensure the integrity of the elections. It didn't work then. It shouldn't work now. Those of you who have benefited from the labor of my parents and Roland's parents and Dr. King, you know how hard they fought for us to get the right to vote. Shame on you if you aren't willing to fight equally hard to preserve it.

Now, I'm going to say this here because I said this. It was a CBC panel and they had all the civil rights people, Sherilyn Ifill, Vanita Gupta, now in DOJ. They were all up there. And I said to them, I said, y'all, black folks, we on this. I said, I need y'all to challenge these white folks because they're targeting young white voters. They're targeting these college campuses. They're moving early voting locations off of these campuses. This whole ballot drop box

deal, I mean, to sit here and now say, not only we're going to move the ballot drop box on the inside, which means you can now only use it during voting hours. They even changed it where if my parents voted absentee and they said, son, take mine with you to drop it off the law says i literally cannot physically carry my mama or my daddy's envelope they have made that illegal rolling these bills in texas so let me say this fortunately they haven't passed but some of the elements of what had been proposed, I mean, they're just mean-spirited, and you can't see them for anything but what they are. I mean, this is as Jim Crow as it could be. And I've had more friends say, well, but you don't

think, you know, we're being racist. There are arguments on the good side. And I've told them, you know, saying that to me, someone like me who watched my parents struggle to pay the poll tax is just as offensive as hearing Donald Trump say after Charlottesville that there were a lot of good people on both sides. Not on this issue. Not this. And we have to do everything we can to stop it. And I'm so grateful to those handful of big

business leaders that have stepped up with us. American Airlines, Dell Computers, IBM, so many other companies, REI and others in Texas. But we need those of you who are listening, if you live in Texas, if you have friends in Texas, pick up the phone, get them to call their legislators and tell them that this is unacceptable and we're not going to stand for it. I agree 100 percent. And I'm a close. I'm a close on this here. I still fundamentally believe it had to be a true act of mercy and act of God that this woman here married you. Y'all go to my computer. This is this is Patrice Ellis Clark. This is Patrice Ellis Clark, the wife of Ron Kirk.

I don't know how. I mean, she she just had good things happen to good people. My man, always good to see you. Tell her I said hello. Come home. Come home. Come on. Quit running.

Come on. No, I'm going to come home. But my parents want to come. You got to go see mama now. No, they want to come visit me. Uh-uh. They want to come visit me. I'm flying them up next week.

Come get your whooping. Okay. I got the vaccine. I'll get you vaccinated. I'm flying them up next week. Come get your whooping. I got the vaccine. I'll get you vaccinated. I'm already vaccinated. I'm vaccinated. I'll be happy to take some of that legal money. Well, you're going to get another shot.

Hey, all seriousness, we need your help. Thanks for shining a light on this. We're going to fight it as long as we can and hope we can get common sense and decency to prevail. I'll be down soon to help Denver people's become the first black mayor of Fort Worth. So I'm giving her money. I'm going to give her money and again, give her money again. If one more person asked me, do you think she can win? I tell them I have no idea if she can win, but I know this. If you don't vote, if you don't give, she doesn't have a chance. So do what you can. She's supremely qualified for this job and would be a great mayor for Fort Worth.

All right, then. Ron Kirk, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. All right, my brother. Thank you, sir. Real quick on my panel here. This is all hands on deck. I mean, what what what we're seeing it and then it didn't start in Georgia.

We're seeing 47 states, Robert. But the bottom line is, is here. Democrats have a very slim majority in the House. Three seats since Congressman Elsie Hastings died. Now, Ron DeSantis is going to leave that seat open. I saw one story for the next 280 days before they have a special election. Republicans could literally gerrymander themselves to victory. So forgetting in voting, Texas and Florida alone, if they are able to gerrymander five seats to flip those from Democrat to Republican, Democrats can lose the House. So people need to understand that if that

then happens, Kevin McCarthy is Speaker of the House. Crazy fools like Marjorie Taylor Greene, they now empowered. Crazy ass Jim Jordan now is chairing a committee. And if you thought you saw craziness during the years of Trump, we're going to go back to the years when the Republicans were attacking Obama for everything if they are in control of the House. And so for all these dumbasses

out there who keep talking about, well, I don't understand, or you know, you always talking about voting. Well, guess what? What Bobby Rush is asking for? If they in control of the House, that ain't I don't understand. You know, you always talk about voting. Well, guess what? What Bobby Rush is asking for? If they in control of the House, that ain't got no shot ever happening. Well, bro, I understand. This is pervasive across the entirety of the South.

There's not one particular state. There's the entire old Dixie coming together for voter suppression. Look at states like South Carolina. They're about 38% African-American. Georgia, about 35 percent African-American. Alabama, nearly 40 percent African-American. We should have complete, hegemony political control in the South. Why do we not? Because of voting restrictions, voter suppression, and efforts to change the way we vote and thereby redistrict. Understand that Donald Trump gave Georgia the mandate. He said, find me 12,000 votes. And that's how we got the new voter suppression law in Georgia. There are 159

counties in Georgia. Do you know how many people have to be able to not vote in order to get Donald Trump his 12,000? 80 people per county. 80 people per county just have to be impacted by changing the voting hours, by getting rid of drop boxes, by making it more difficult for elderly people and disabled people to vote, by having long lines where we can only give people food and water in order to stay in line. That is what they're doing. They're trying to skim off just enough votes to stay in power. In the last 30 years, Republicans have won the popular vote a grand total of one time. If you know someone 17 years old, they've never seen a Republican win the popular vote.

In the Senate, they represent 41 million fewer people than the Democrats do despite having 50-50 split. They are not trying to win in the marketplace of ideas. They are not trying to actually win the majority of the American people. They are simply trying to rig and break the system to their own will, and that's how they stay in power. Monique, when I was in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, I had some loudmouth fool like there, Roland Martin, we don't like you because all you doing is trying to get us to vote Democrat. I said, dumbass, somebody going to win. One of them or Democrat? I said, now, please show me.

Just show me the evidence where the Republican even going to listen to you. What are you going to talk to you? I said, show me where they are going to. I said, all this stuff you out here yelling in the megaphone. Show me the evidence. What are you going to support? Anything you saying? I said, I ain't letting no Democrat off the hook, but I damn sure not stuck on stupid and go sit here and say, sure. Y'all go ahead and be in control of the United States Senate and not control all federal judges. Sure. Y'all be in control of the House.

Now, another damn thing we actually want to get done is going to get passed. Sure. I'm like, you running your ass around here, out here with your dreadlocks, talking about you member of the new Black Panther Party, hollering reparations. I said, show me a single Republican who has come out in favor of reparations. His ass couldn't say nothing.

Is that a question? First of of all that's for Monique Scott and she on mute now you want to talk and your ass on mute go ahead between you and Scott his jacked up cricket wifi go ahead His jacked up cricket Wi-Fi. Go on here. Go on here. Yes.

The heckler-in-chief was a whole mess, but reflected loudly a point that I don't think we can ignore in terms of the difference between what is actually happening and what people who don't spend their life watching news all day, living news at night, reading news, reporting on news, et cetera, they get bits and pieces because they have entire lives and work and family and et cetera that they have to pay attention to are just straight survival. And what he said juxtaposed to not just everything you just said, Roland, but let's look at Mitch McConnell today. As Jennifer Epstein reported, he's quoted as saying he is 100% focused on stopping this administration.

And then the press secretary, Jen Psaki, when asked about it, says, well, contrast, because we're 100% focused on delivering, you know, relief to the American people and stopping this pandemic. But McConnell, he wasn't quoted out of context. It really is the same as it was in the Obama era. And it doesn't even matter that what this administration is trying to do is going to help so many. He didn't say I'm 100 percent focused on helping this administration succeed with an eye to our principles and holding them to the fire. He just said stop them. Like whatever it is they're trying to do is what we're trying to stop.

So, hello, taxpayers out there, people who are working out there, people who enjoy your Obamacare out there. Whatever it is that this administration is trying to do, that $1,400 check, they're trying to stop that. The vaccines in arms, they're trying to stop that. The Obamacare, the affordable healthcare insurance for other people and the expansion that President Biden wants to do to it,

they're trying to stop that. This jobs bill, forget about it. The George Floyd justice in policing, don't even think about it. Any single thing that directly affects your life, understand that the people who are in power right now in the so-called grand old party, they are trying to stop it. That's you too, Republican, poor people, Republican middle-class people, because there's so few of us, them, it's not even us, who are legitimately wealthy. So you need to understand, grand old party, they don't have your principles. People like Liz Cheney, who actually have your principles, they're trying to vote them out. This is the party of Trump. You are in the party of a certified fool. Now, do you want to stay there or do you want jobs and health insurance and

benefits and an increased minimum wage? Just saying. This is very simple for me, Scott, and I really don't care. When I see what Republicans are doing when it comes to voter suppression, I'm very clear. If you are standing on the side with Donald Trump, I want all those punk asses to lose every single one of them. U.S. Senate congressional races, state rep, state Senate governor, county commissioner. I want all of them to lose. I will not be silent on this one. The Republican Party does not give a damn about black people at all. They are servicing a white conservative constituency. They don't care about black evangelicals.

They care about white conservative evangelicals. They are the party of white nationalism. They are the party of white supremacy. They are the party of Tucker, keep as many white people in America as possible, Carlson. They are the party of Tucker. Keep as many white people in America as possible. Carlson, they are the party of OAN. They are the party of Newsmax. It is about whiteness and it's a certain type of whiteness. They don't want anybody white who works for me. They don't want none of their votes. They want that grossly uneducated fool in so-called middle America who is all about God, gays, and guns, not realizing that the very party they are supporting is in

bed with the Chamber of Commerce and big money. All these fools, they are anti-union, but these fools are hollering, I need a job. And so, excuse me, so for all y'all out here, okay, who are sitting here complaining, oh man, I see you dumbasses, rolling, you shilling for Democrats. No fool, I'm shilling for black people. I'm standing up for black people because I know how to read. I know how to listen. I know the difference between a party that empowers a grifter like Candace Owens, a Brandon Tatum, C.J. Pearson, that punk Vernon Jones, that nutcase Angela Stanton King, and the difference between them and people such as LaTosha Brown, Tamika Mallory, and folks like that who are fighting for issues we care

about. They are not self-identified Democrats, but they understand the issues we're facing. Now, if some of y'all want to be stuck on stupid, if some of y'all want to sit here, both parties ain't shit. It means you can challenge both parties. And trust me, I am not on the Christmas card list of the Obamas because I was critiquing and criticizing him while he was there. I was doing it the way I should have. Don't try to say I was Tavis and Cornell because for me, it wasn't personal.

It's business. But when I know there's a party and don't give a damn about the George Floyd Justice Act, I don't give a damn about H. Floyd Justice Act, don't give a damn about H.R. 1, don't give a damn about any of that, then I don't want to hear all y'all whining. Somebody going to win one or the other. Your ass better decide which one you want to see in power. Scott, you'll come before we go to break. Yeah, but you keep presuming that this is a political party.

You have to have another political party in order to have democracy. This is not a political party. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. They're in power. No, no, no, no, no. See, hold on. No, no, no, no, no. See, you're doing... No, no, no, no, Scott. What you're doing is... This is a mistake that Democrats are making.

No, Scott. But it's true. No, Scott, you're making a mistake. You're making an intellectual argument. And I hear you have to have a party. Scott, Scott, no, you don't. Scott, they got a party platform. Their party is no, no. Their party platform is we giving y'all shit. That's a platform. Everything y'all asking for, the answer is no. Their party platform, we're going to keep doing tax cuts for the wealthy. Their party platform is, we're going to cut all benefits. Their party platform is, we're going to sit here and shank all of y'all, and we're going to sit here and keep our rich folks all happy.

That's not a platform. That's just no. No, Scott. That's their platform. So what I'm saying is there is a party. It is the Republican Party. They ain't gone nowhere. They right now believe they're going to take back the House. They believe they're going to take back the Senate.

That's why I support, and I saw the tweet earlier today of Cliff Albright when he said, we're talking about voting, let tweet earlier today of Cliff Albright when he said, we're talking about voting, let me pull it up right here, when Cliff said, is he even your damn dog? Agree with me, Scott. Cliff Albright sent this tweet here. Bella, what's Bella doing?

Cliff Albright sent this tweet here out. Boom, go to my computer. 60 years after this courageous group, Black Voters Matter is announcing that we will board the blackest bus in America in June and head to D.C. to demand voting rights. We're putting out the call for folks to join the caravan. More information soon. pressure on cinema and mansion right now. I'm telling y'all, mark it right now at 735 on May 5th. Democrats could very well lose power, the House and the Senate, if you don't pass it now, you may not have a shot in the next two years. Scott, go ahead before I go to break. Got to do it. The other thing, the one thing we have not talked about with these voter suppression laws that have been passed, Jim Crow dressed up, is the federal judiciary. That the legal engines have to start running now.

You hear him revving up to attack the constitutionality of these voter suppression laws, even in these southern red states. If you remember under Trump, one of our saving graces was that many of the circuits and many of the federal district courts, whether it was gerrymandering or whether it was voter suppression laws or how those laws were being implemented, there was some relief coming from the circuits and from the federal district courts. We got to go back to court sooner than later and make those challenges happen because 2022 is right around the corner. Absolutely.

So we can protest, we can do all this other stuff, but let's not forget about the courts, the legal defense funds around this country. We got to get into action, partnering with big firms, medium firms, and individual lawyers to bring justice in each of these jurisdictions. All right, folks, got to go to break. We come back. Did crazy-ass white people,

did a state legislator actually call a black colleague buckwheat? Yeah, we'll discuss that on Rolling Mountain Filter. Are you trying to say that as of January 20th, that President Trump will be president? That depends on what happens on Wednesday. President Trump won this election. Do you think the election was stolen? Absolutely. At this point we do not know who has prevailed in the election. This fraud was systemic and I dare say it was effective. This is a contested election. President Trump won by a landslide. I'll pull them this way.

The outcome of our presidential election was seized from the hands of voters. We have to make sure that they look into what has been the theft of this presidential election. Stop the steal! Stop the steal! Joe Biden lost and President Trump won. Whatever happens to President Trump, he is still the elected president. I would love to see this election overturned. No one believes that this guy got 80 million votes. It doesn't feel right. It doesn't look right. No ragtime group of liberal activists will be allowed to steal this election. The president wasn't defeated by huge numbers. In fact, he may not have been defeated at all.

Over the next 10 days, we get to see the ballots that are fraudulent. And if we're wrong, we will be made fools of. George Floyd's death hopefully put another nail in the coffin of racism. You talk about awakening America, it led to a historic summer of protest. I hope our younger generation don't ever forget that non-violence is soul force right everybody she meant for in hammond hi my name is brisha webb and you're watching roland martin unfiltered and well i like a nice filter usually, but we can be on filter. All right, folks, go to our Facebook page. You can actually see that Andrew Young conversation with Cliff Albright.

It's a fascinating conversation. You don't want to miss it. And one of the reasons why it's important for us, for you to support what we do, is because that's the kind of content that we're providing you that nobody else is doing on a regular basis. That's why you want to join our Bring the Funk fan club. Please do so by going to Cash App, dollar sign RM Unfiltered, PayPal.me forward slash RMartin Unfiltered, Venmo.com forward slash RM Unfiltered. Zelle is rolling at rollingmartin.com or rolling at rollingmartinunfiltered.com. Let's pull the graphic up, please. Of course, you can also send us a money order to 1625 K Street,

Northwest, Suite 400, Washington, D.C., 2006. Again, the Cash App is $RMUnfiltered. Can I get the graphic? Zelle at Roland at RolandSMartin.com com PayPal dot me for slash are Martin unfiltered. And of course, Venmo is forward slash RM unfiltered. I'm going to show you that a little bit later. All right, folks, check this out. Olympic athletes are banned from wearing Black Lives Matter statements or apparel at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

The International Olympic Committee confirmed the ruling that Black Lives Matter is banned from the games. The rule is part of the committee's longstanding regulations on demonstrations. The IOC said it surveyed more than 3,500 athletes over the past year and that 70% said it was, quote, not appropriate to demonstrate or express their views on the field or play or at either the opening or the closing ceremony. Athletes will face punishment if they violate the rule. Violators will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Now, keep in mind, there's history here. In 1968, Mexico City, you had John Carlos, Tommy Smith, that famous shot of them with black gloves on, hands raised with a fist, and of course, black socks on, no shoes, as they're protesting racism. They were expelled from the games, caught hell for years after that. White folks in this country were upset, like Brent Musburger, who is still yet to apologize for his shameful, despicable comments regarding John Carlos and Tommy Smith. Monique, what do you make of this? It's not different than what it's been. It's like what you just said. What you just said

is that people caught hell for their acts of protest, for their good trouble. It wasn't without consequence and it wasn't permissible when it was done. So that has not changed. So is wearing a hat or a shirt, that'd be a protest? Depending on what it says, sure. No, no, no. No, no. I'm saying if an athlete puts on a shirt that says Black Lives Matter, is that a protest? It's an act of protest if it's not permissible. Sure. Scott? I mean, anything that you're doing that is not permitted under the rules, if it's a fist, if it's a kneel, if it's a shirt, if it's a hat, it doesn't matter. It's an act of protest. And there are going to be consequences for that.

I just want to point out, one, that this hasn't changed. It's always been impermissible. The fact that they are singling out a particular group is wrong. doing that is because the United States team has been wearing shirts and paraphernalia that single out a particular organization and statement in what they wear on their uniforms. So got it. In response to that, they specifically banned it. But but see, good trouble is good trouble. So and you can't be no punks and getting good trouble at the same time. So Scott, are you... To me, this changes nothing.

So Scott, are you hopeful that somebody will say the hell with your rules and do it anyway? Can you please hit your mute button? Scott, if you're going to talk, Scott, you got to turn your microphone on. Damn. Damn.

It was brilliant. I can hear it. I can hear it. I guarantee you somebody's going to violate that. But here's, see, the analysis you're going through with Monique is just a little off. The fact of the matter is, is Black Lives Matter or BLM a political statement, or is it just an organization or a statement I can say

that my life matters? How is that a political assessment or statement? It isn't. So the debate, whether they go to court or not, or whether you put on Black Lives Matter hat or T-shirt, is that a political statement because the OIC thinks it is? Or am I just reaffirming my blackness and my belief in myself and telling the world, hey, remember, my life matters because the police are killing black people at alarming rates, not just in the U.S., but conservatism is spreading, and black people are dying worldwide. Why does that have to be a political statement

versus a political affirmation, or just a personal or human affirmation? That's your debate. That's the question you ought to be asking Robert next. Because it's not political. It's a human affirmation. Actually, I can ask Robert what I want to. Robert,

I'm going to ask you again, Robert. Is wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt, is that an actual protest or demonstration? I think it is. But do you think you can have two countervailing points and both also be true? Because one, I understand the Olympic Committee's point, to Monique's point. Every single country on earth has a marginalized group that would like to be recognized, whether

it's the Uyghurs in China who are subject to a genocide, Libyans who are part of the Saharan slave trade, South Sudan. Across the world, everybody has a marginalized group that would like to be recognized. And the Olympic Committee is probably saying, well, we let everybody protest their particular grievance. That's all the Olympics will be. But hold on. The second point is I had John Carlos on my radio show a couple months ago, actually, to talk about this issue. The whole point of a protest is you're not supposed to do it.

If you're allowed to do it, it's just a pep rally. It takes a level of bravery, a level of gall, a level of temerity to stand up to all of the things that come thereafter. And John Carlos, who I spoke to, and Tommy Smith went through hell as a result of what they did, but they still stood up and did it. So when you make something a protest mainstream, you start seeing Coca-Cola and Pepsi and stuff endorsing Black Lives Matter. That means that they are taking the teeth out of the movement. The movement has to be based on people who are willing to stand up and face the consequences of their actions in order to get their point across. The Olympic Committee can have their rules, but at the end of the day, people are still going to protest and they're still going to have their issues heard on the international

stage. Folks, you know, I can't affirm my belief in black people. That's too political. You can do it at home. I have a nation of people. I can affirm my blackness, but I just can't use Black Lives Matter. That is not a political organization. It's not even a political statement. It's what I want it to be.

It's how I define who I am as a member of the darker you. That'll be challenged, trust me. If somebody comes to me, I'll represent you pro bono to challenge that IOC rule. You're going to work pro bono? You hear me? I'm not on mute.

You're going to work pro bono? That's breaking news. Yeah, pro bono to challenge that rule. All right, that's breaking news. Every Olympic athlete who believes Black Lives Matter, they ought to be able to say that rule. Every Olympic athlete who believes black lives matter, they ought to be able to say that, affirm that, T-shirt, hat, send them to me.

Scott, the games are going to be in Tokyo. Are you part of the Tokyo bar? They got laws over there, and we'll affiliate with a firm over there to challenge it. But we can challenge that here in the U.S. too. We'll figure out the jurisdictional issue. All right, y'all. Talk about using

the power of your vote. You and Monique are wrong. I'm just letting you know. Okay. All right. My next story. You done? Can I not go into the next story, please? You can go. You can go. You can go. Yeah, I appreciate that.

Thank you. Yeah, yeah. Thank you for your consent. All right, y'all. Investors for one of the world's largest chemical companies voted in favor of publishing data about the diversity of its employees. Eighty-four percent of DuPont shareholders want the company to release info on its diversity through an employment information report. The investors also voted for DuPont to commit to a proposal calling for more transparency

on pollution. Keep in mind, y'all, the company did not agree with this, but the investors took a different position. That, to me, Monique, is critically important because as we move forward on these issues, this is how you use the power. Reverend Jackson, for years, people had no idea when Rainbow Push would buy stock in companies to allow them to speak at shareholders meetings. What you're now seeing is you're also you're now seeing conscientious investors use the power of their dollars pension funds to say we put money in y'all unless y'all make some changes. More of this should be happening.

Yes. I don't know what to say behind that. I'm thankful that you brought up again what Reverend Jackson did. I'm sure Robert can expound on it more than I can. But there are some rooms, some buildings, some companies, some cities that we never would be in right now, but for the type of organizing and stick-to-itiveness and sacrifice of our elders who came together to make a way where they had to be heard. And we've got the power. That's how I started this year. We have

the power. We are now finding more ways to utilize the power that we have, and I am all for it. Speaking of power, a Trump-appointed federal judge has ended that moratorium on evictions. Now they're going to come back. Robert, I want to get thoughts on this here. This is going to be a significant issue economically once these revictions start back up. But they're appealing. Yeah, it's going to be appealed, and hopefully we can buy some more time. But America is going to be on the edge of a crisis coming up. And I think when Joe Biden was elected, I said he had the hardest job of rebuilding the country since any president since probably Grant during Reconstruction, because once these eviction moratoriums are over, there are going to be people who are faced with

$8,000, $9,000, $10,000 back payments on their rent that they need to come up with immediately to prevent eviction. At the same time, there's going to be a foreclosure crisis that hits also when many of these federal programs and banking programs that gave people foreclosure forbearance go away. We're going to see the enhanced unemployment end in September. You're going to have about 4 million jobs that need to be filled, and there's not going to be another stimulus coming down the pipe. So we need to be, we can't be caught flat-footed on this, as we often are. Too often in the African-American community, we simply let the news happen to us instead of becoming active participants in it. And since we see that President Trump

packed the courts of over 200 federal judges, added additional judges to the Supreme Court in order for him to have a majority that Mitch McConnell stole for him, then we can't really look to the federal courts for relief in this situation. And we're going to have to work through the legislature to ensure that they are passing some laws now to prepare what's coming down the pike in six months or eight months. Because if not, we're going to be looking at a repeat of 2008, 2009 financial crisis when this entire housing market collapses under its own weight because people just simply put are not going to have the money to maintain their housing situation. And we've seen the overinflated prices in every city around the country when it comes to buying a house.

And many people are simply waiting for the bubble to pop, the programs to end, to buy up cheap. And that's when the final nail of gentrification will hit many of our communities because we simply put will not have the buying power to protect the historical landmark and historical neighborhoods where we've always lived at. Monique? They've already filed the appeal. They've asked for a stay pending the appeal, their appeal to the circuit court.

This is the difference when you have a DOJ that is actually interested in justice and is following the lead of a moral leader who is looking to provide relief to the American people. So while this is certainly a problem and this judge's ruling is not what we want, this is not the end of that story. Scott?

Well, how long do you people want the moratorium to stay in place? Oh, here we go. Over 100 million people have been vaccinated. One, we're coming out of COVID, not out of COVID yet. Landlords got to get paid and renters have to pay rent. I understand the moratorium. I was on board with the moratorium. But forever, moratorium is not appropriate for businesses and for landlords.

So there's got to be some balance here. So I think the moratorium has got to go, and we've got to get back to business, and people have to start paying rent. What is this? I'm a landlord. I need my rent. Oh, I can talk some more. Well, let me tell you something. I feel sorry for you.

I was waiting for Robert and Monique to respond. But you just passed a $3 trillion rescue package. Where's that rescue package? They put it in their pocket, pay your rent. This moratorium is not going to be reinstated. And if it is, it's only going to be structured or limited going forward. It can't be forever. But, Scott, even if the moratorium isn't forever, we have to put programs in to ramp these things up because the idea that someone who's been out of work for 15 months is going to suddenly have $10,000 to pay their rent back up. They're not all out of work. They're pocketing that money.

You've got to pay your rent. You can't live for free. Everybody can't live for water. You've been out of work. I can't over-talk, Robert. The whole point is we need some federal legislation to have a ramp up program so everybody can get their rent paid. The landlord sitting in their palatial estates will be able to buy their second yacht and their second boat. Nobody will go into foreclosure at the same time.

There's a way to structure the program properly. But just kicking folks out the door and expecting them to have the $10,000 in their pockets, that's not a realistic solution. They signed a contract. They know they got rent every month. Forgive me. They know they have it every month. They signed a contract. You can't get out of a contract because of the pandemic. You've had a moratorium

for at least a year or so. Pay your rent. There's no excuse. No. Stop it. Stop it right now. You know better. Yes, they signed a contract. They didn't sign a contract knowing that there was going to be an international pandemic. They didn't sign a contract knowing that they depended on. We're going to be closed for talking.

She's talking. I'm speaking. Now, landlords who are trying to enforce this have gotten their ppp and their eidl and everything else and the reason why they have that is because that's supposed to bridge the gap for what is not coming by way of rent from people who have no jobs you can't because there's been a moratorium now go back six months eight months What about the ones that have a job? Why can't you function in the fact that I'm still talking? I'm talking.

I will get to it. What I am saying is landlords have been given relief too. Now these tenants should have, in my mind, forgiveness for what could not be paid you can't reinstate eviction proceedings after the moratorium like they never happened that's not what should happen and the legislation that they're working on now actually is going to fix that so that you can't go back to december of last year or whenever the moratorium last hit and get that money. Because landlords got $20,000, $30,000, $40,000, $50,000. Scott, you a landlord? Stop acting like you didn't get your check. Can I?

Be candid on here. Here's the problem with you, liberal. Are you done? Hold on. Wait, wait, hold on, hold on, wait. Hold up, hold up. You know what the problem is? Wait, wait, wait.

Hold up, Scott. Hold up, Monique. Monique, you done? It don't work. Monique, you done? I am. I'm done and I'm disgusted. Okay, Scott, go ahead. Well, I tell you what. Scott, Monique. Monique, you done? It don't work. Monique, you done? I am. I'm done and I'm disgusted. Okay, Scott, go ahead.

Well, I tell you what. Scott, go ahead. I tell you what. The problem with you liberals and people like you liberals and the one on the liberal far left of the wing, you want everything for free and forever, and that's not how life works, okay? I will split the moratorium, but at some point in time, we got to come out of this. People got to pay the rent. Send your rent money back. Give them some relief. Send your check back. Give them some relief. But if they're employed, they got to pay rent and they got to catch up on their rent.

Period. Bottom line. It's a proposition that doesn't stop being that. And it's not going to stop being that. Pay your rent. Send your money back, man. Send your money back. Because if they have to pay you, then you don't deserve the rescue money. Well, I didn't get any rescue money, and a lot of landlords that didn't, and a lot of us are suffering. So you can't put us all in one big category.

Stop saying that. You know good and doggone well you are not suffering. Stop it in the name of the law free and forever free and forever just stop it nobody said free or forever stop it

up to here with you liberal up to here I let it pass when you said those who are of a darker hue like that has something to do with you I let it pass when you said those who are of a darker hue, like that has something to do with you. I let that pass because I was trying to be good with you. But now, you're just wrong.

You're just wrong. Oh, I'm right. And I'm going to get my money. I'm going to get my money. Bottom line. Anybody rid of from Scott, you might want to start getting some U-Haul trucks right now. Sally, screws have been up about to come to repossess everything., you might want to start getting some U-Haul trucks right now. Because it sounds like Scrooge McDuck about to come and repossess everything. So you might want to get on out before the sheriff comes.

You're right. That's right. I'm showing up with the sheriff to get my money. Good luck with the appeal. Y'all done. God bless America. Y'all done. And another thing. Y'all done? And another thing.

Are y'all done? Alright. Yeah, we can move on to another subject. Alright, y'all know what time it is. The subject should be the end of the show. Y'all know what time it is. No travel rules are allowed. I'm wired. I got you, Pearl.

Illegally selling water without a permit. On my property. Whoa! I'm uncomfortable. Well, imagine there's a floor debate going on and a white state legislator is talking and all of a sudden he decides to call a black colleague buckwheat press play in many ROE rules you're not allowed to fire until fired upon because that is when your safety, that is when your life

is threatened. I'm getting there. Don't worry, buckwheat. I'm getting there. Now what I'd like to say, what I'd like to say, that's an endearing term by the way, representative Holtorf, we must maintain order in here and not refer to any individuals other than in any inappropriate manner. So please do not do that any further. Mr. Sullivan. Mr. Holthorff. Why are you yelling at me? Why are you yelling at me? Why are you yelling at me? We're going to be in a recess.

Why are you yelling at me? Why are you yelling at me? Why are you yelling at me? We're going to be in a recess. Why are you yelling at me? This is Colorado State Rep Richard Holthorff. And it was fever in the funk house. And here's the deal. He was challenged. It's how crazy this thing was. He was challenged by Representative Thomas Sullivan. And this dude, Holtorf, had previously told Homeboy he needed to get over the shooting death of his son who was killed in the Aurora,

Colorado theater in that massacre. This dude here is interesting. He has downplayed racism and he later came out and apologized. Kyle Clark is a reporter who was covering this. This is the tweet here. Representative Holtor spoke following the recess, first admonishing his colleagues about decorum before acknowledging his buckwheat comment, quote, I think we all need to consider what we do here and how we talk to each other. We all have to do better. I will start with me. That's that both sides nonsense. I'm just saying, so I'm just wondering, Robert,

if you were a state legislator and one of your white colleagues said, hey, Buckwheat, what would your response be? Look, Robert, I got a lot of guns. Like, a lot. Yeah, we've heard you describe... Yeah. For the folks who don't know, just share them with a few of your guns. Hey, the ATF and...

Look here, Mr. Federal Government, I don't think anybody needs... I have one super soaker, that's all. But I think at the same time... Rob, you a damn liar. You've been on the show. First of all, Robert, I saw your ass on Fox News describing... Scott, stop talking, please.

Thank you very much. Robert, I saw you on Fox News describing all your damn guns. So don't try to get here all quiet. Don't quiet in hell. No damn way to ATF watch Fox News. They don't watch this show. Shout out to the brothers over there at Hazeline Guns over in Laurel, Maryland. They all watch the show. They all love you,

Roland. As soon as I walked in, they said, bring Roland out here. I was picking up some 10mm ammo. I said, I need to bring you out here. He just did that. He just did that to you. You got a better shot of seeing me at a Klan meeting than seeing me at a

gun store. Come on, Roland. I don't, I don't. Gun. You're from Texas. Hey, hey, hey, I shot a gun one time. It was a machine gun at the FBI Academy. I'm like, this is a grossly overrated experience. I'm going to play golf.

But go ahead, go ahead and comment on this story, please. You said you got a lot of guns? Roland, I'm not going to lie to you. I bought a gun during the show. I actually just got done ordering it. You probably did. That's how easy it is. And hell, you probably had an Uber driver deliver it.

No, no. I got an AR-308 80% lower, so it comes to your house and then you mill it out. But regardless, I think that's-308 80% lower, so it comes to your house and then you mill it out. But regardless, I think that's important for people to understand decorum, understand you don't talk to people. And also, it's funny how this only happens when white people accidentally say something racist and say it's a term of endearment. I've never seen a black person stand up in court or at a job or in a legislature and say, I'm sorry, Mr. Peckerwood, and then just say, oh, that's a term of endearment. He's my friend. It just doesn't happen. It's only certain groups that they slip out and they act, oh,

I didn't know you didn't like being called buckwheat. So I think it's important for someone to speak with them to admonish them for this reason and to make it known that black people support the Second Amendment just as much as anybody else. So please don't refer to me as Mr. Buckwheat anymore. Monique. Man, it was, it's horrible on levels that.

It was funny. I don't even, now of course, like the lawyer in me was like, I want to see the picture of the person who he was referring to. I mean, are there some Buckwheat similarities? I'm just trying to rule things out but because i'm just i'm trying to grapple with how ever do that but i'm going to take that clip and i am going to i have white friends. I am going to make sure that my friends who are not black see that as an example of what we are talking about when we say that the racism is right beneath the surface and any given

circumstance, any given Sunday, any given legislative meetings for an entire state, it can just topple out of your mouth. And that lets you know that if you somehow got comfortable enough to say that on camera, in a legislative body meeting for a state where you represent thousands of people. What is at your dinner table? How are you making decisions in your companies? What are you doing if you're on boards for universities? How are you making financial decisions and think that it is endearing. Roland, do you not have a picture of buckwheat? So people who are too young don't understand the level of insult. I mean, at least Eddie Murphy is buckwheat, if we don't have an original picture

of Buckwheat, but I firmly believe like I could go to my children and they may have no clue and they're in their upper teens. So, so, so people might not know how much of a ridiculous insult that was not just in terms of aesthetics or looks, but in terms of intellect, understanding. There we go. Yeah. And also, this is my third time y'all asked and told me to pull something up during the show, Monique. So I'm just letting you know. I'm sorry.

I'm just trying to let you know. I ain't here to produce for you. Scott, go on with your little comment, please. Let him produce for you. Scott, go on with your little comment, please. Let him pull it up. Scott, come on with your little comment. You know, buckwheat was a pickaninny, which is another term for slave children whose hair was unclothed and they were considered

to be ignorant and dumb because it was against the law to educate them and all they wanted to do was run around and they were lazy, and they didn't want to pick cotton. They weren't picking any, or your buckwheat was a 1930s manifestation of that with the little gang or the whole gang or whatever the name of it was to put some color into Spanky's gang, basically. But the comfortability, Roland,

the legislature, the comfortability of white people when they use, slow down, Buckwheat. At first I laughed, but then I thought he was talking to a grown-ass man. An elected official. And that's a term of endearment. He thought he was being funny. But you see, his implicit bias, his white privilege said

he had a right to do that. This is the danger of white privilege. Because white privilege, you see, his implicit bias, his white privilege said he had a right to do that. This is the danger of white privilege, because white privilege, you know, people who are white, they'll say, well, I'm not a racist and I'm against racism. But if you have implicit bias or you have white privilege that allows you to use racial slurs because you think you have a past because you have white privilege. That you are elevated where that black person would certainly understand. That is our greatest challenge going forward after this racial reckoning. No, I think the problem is y'all trying to be all nice. I remember when I was in Atlanta. In what world? Excuse me.

Excuse me. I'm sorry. I have the damn floor. When I was in Atlanta. Okay. Excuse me. I'm sorry. I have the damn floor. When I was in Atlanta, when I was at. OK, when I. When I was in Atlanta, we were shooting this. We shoot some interviews and Judge Judge Tarini Gundy. That was his young sister who worked for her. And she said, Judge, why are you always complaining about millennials?

She said, because you do millennial shit. When somebody says, I'm not racist, no, we should say, but you do racist shit. And that's what it is. And we got to stop sitting here and dancing around and just call folk out for exactly what it is, which is why, and I've had some people say, Roland, I mean, you know, you have this crazy ass white people segment, you know, how would you feel if there was a crazy ass black people segment? Monique said that.

And I told Monique, and I told Monique, well, get your own damn show. But mainstream media also had that, basically, for the existence of black people in this country. So here's my whole deal. If y'all don't want me to have a crazy-ass white people segment, stop having crazy-ass

white people. All right, y'all. Here's the whole deal. If y'all want to support what we do, please do so. Do we have the graphic now? Matter of fact, before I go to that, I, y'all. Here's the whole deal. If y'all want to support what we do, please do so. Do we have the graphic now? Matter of fact, before I go to that, I told y'all, for one night only, I'm returning back to TV One. That's right. Kathy Hughes called me and asked me to be the co-host of Urban One Honors, airing May 16th. Here is the promo. black women are fierce brilliant courageous dope black women are making a difference

making history and changing the world i think about all of the black women who have showed up to fight for justice we are starting to finally accept all the skills and talents a woman can bring to the table. Urban One, thank you. This one is so special. Y'all gotta send me the promo of the one where I'm in it. I mean, I know it's a tribute to black women, but a brother...

But a brother... Hey, Scott, ain't nobody ever asked you to co-host nothing. So, y'all, here's the graphic right here. Erica Campbell and I are going to be co-hosting this May 16, 2021, 9 p.m. Eastern on TV One and Clio TV. And so that's how we're going to do it. I told y'all, if y'all want to support what we do, please do so. Joining our Bring the Funk fan club, Scott, we got your money for last year,

but it's called a recurring deal. We appreciate that. Cash app. You take post-dated check? Cash app. No, we don't take post-dated. Why don't you send someone to rent money your ass collecting? Cash app.

Dollar sign. RM unfiltered. PayPal.me. 4 slash RMartin unfiltered. Venmo.com. 4 slash RM unfiltered. Zell is rolling that. Rolling that's Martin.com.

All right, y'all. I had a guest. My fan base is amazing. They send me stuff all the time. They send me Brother sent me some Roland Martin unfiltered hand sanitizer. He put the label on it. Matter of fact, Chris, Chelsea, get that box off my desk. I got so much stuff in my

office, y'all. It's just gifts. But this sister here sent me this two weeks ago, and she's been sending me emails blowing me up. Did you get it? Did you get it? And so since, you know, we got punk-ass Kappas on the show today, I figured I'd go ahead and... Who? Who?

You. You. You the Kappa. I figured I'd show y'all the cane. I figured I'd go ahead and... You, you, you the Kappa. I figured I'd show y'all the cane. I figured I... I gotta get the brother's card, but this is just... Y'all, he sent me... This is... Is this card in here? Yeah, Jarius Finney, y'all.

Jarius Finney. Henry, you can zoom in on that, Henry, with camera four. Brother sent me that. He sent me that Tiger brand hand sanitizer gel. And he got joined the Brain Funk fan club. He got the label on here and everything. I told y'all, my fan base sent me stuff.

Y'all, Lord have mercy. Tia Harris. Tia knows I'm an alpha, but Tia decided to see. So that's the hand sanitizer right there, y'all. So that's it there. So Tia decided to send me this cane, y'all. My man. Tia sent me this cane.

So you see right here, Scott, the reason you will never. What's he say? Scott, you will never be able to touch this cane. I'm going to twirl it as soon as you let me back in. You can't. And so she blinged it out. And so it has Roland Martin right here. So you see the name. But the reason, Scott, you will never

be able to touch it because right here it says A5A unfiltered. Now go back to that camera. Go back to that camera. So you see right here. A5A unfiltered and A5A right here. And so here's the deal.

I don't need a cane to walk. But Henry wants to borrow it. So, yeah. We on everybody tonight. Yeah, Henry, he need a little assistance when walking. This might speed him up when we're working out in field productions. Yeah, because he's moving a little assistance when walking. This might speed him up when we're working out in field productions. Yeah, because he's moving a little slow.

He's about three years away from one of them carts, from one of them motor scooters. You see it at the casinos. Tia, I appreciate you sending me this cane. This is what I will use to smack the hell out of unruly lawyers on Wednesdays.

Scott, what the hell are you doing? Scott, what the hell is that? Scott, what the hell were you doing? That's twirling. I'll show you when I get back in the studio. I'll show you how to use that cane. Actually, that's not that kind of cane. When are you going to I get back in the studio. I'll show you how to use that cane. Actually, that's not that kind of cane. That's one of those ways. When are you going to let us back in the studio? In fact, first of all, I'm vaccinated. I need to see your passport. I need to see your passport.

Here, go to camera four. So, Scott, this is the go to give me a wide shot. Go to camera four or give me a wide shot. Go to camera four. Give me a wide. Go wide. So, Scott, this is what I'm used to seeing. Yeah, go ahead and go to four. This is what I'm used to seeing from y'all Kappas when y'all twirling,

y'all always sitting here doing this here. I'm used to seeing that. I'm used to seeing y'all drop canes. That's what we're used to seeing. Yeah. Okay. That's why you dropped it. No, actually, that's what we used to see. Yeah. Okay. That's why you dropped it. No, actually, we're mimicking,

so we appreciate Capus. Y'all help little kids with their math because they get to count every time y'all drop a cane during a step show. All right, y'all. That's it for us. Robert, you can now go shoot your new damn gun. Hey, y'all. Your 824-inch barrel, 1.7

list on it. It's going to be great. Okay, and then, wait a minute. Did Erica decide? Go full screen. Did Erica decide to hop her ass in there? Y'all, let me tell you, I told y'all earlier, I don't know how Ron Kirk

was able to marry Matrice. Don't show Monique. She don't matter. I don't know how Ron Kirk was able to marry Matrice. Don't show Monique. She don't matter. I don't know how Ron Kirk was able to marry Matrice Ellis Kirk, but I'm going to tell y'all right now, I have no idea. If y'all want to see an actual charity case, right here. This right here is a charity case right here. I mean, I have no idea.

I have no idea. I have no idea how much he had to give her family. You know how, like, in India or New African countries, when they got to give what do they call that, y'all? When they got to give a dowry. Scott had to

give at minimum 50% of all future earnings just for her to agree to walk down the aisle because I don't understand at all how she married his little loud ass. Love you, Roland. Love you as well.

I appreciate it. Love you, Erica. Hey, Mom. Love you. Y'all, Scott really upset that I met his wife before I met him. That's not true. Actually, I did, and that's the only reason I tolerate your last.

All right, y'all, we got to go. I got to get to the house. So, Scott, get your little dog under control. That's her dog. We got three of them. Okay, and Erica, please. Love you, Bella. And Erica, we want you to keep Scott

under control as well. That's it, y'all. We got to go. Hey, tomorrow, Reese is back. Reese is back. She's been on maternity leave. She's been taking care of her baby. And so she is back on the show tomorrow.

So we're looking forward to Reese coming back. She posted this here. I'm going to show y'all. I'm trying to find it. Recy posted this here. This is a photo. I don't know why she's showing her breast milk, but she said after pumping, she's going to go get a margarita.

But Recy is back on the show tomorrow. We look forward. Hey, keep praying for our girl Erica Erica Savage Wilson. I told you how she had that car accident. She's so she sent me a text. I sent her a text checking on her. Erica is she's doing better. She's in rehab. And so she she's one of y'all to know. Thank you for all the love and prayers. And she's, so, but again, so she's still dealing with therapy physically,

but also speech as well. So, so there you go. And she said, if you're comfortable, you are welcome to visit. Well, hell, Erica, it ain't on me, it's on you. So yeah, if you comfortable, I'm good. I got my shot. So y'all, we'll be by.

And also one of the MAGA loving, little loud as the Republican C.J. Pearson. He'd been talking trash. Well, I was smacking him around on social media and all his his all his little white conservative people. You should be beating up on the kid. I said, fine. I said, I would. The ass turned 18. Right. Right. You on the show. So I'm back a little loud mouth on the show. We'll see if he accepted. But all I'm saying is, C.J., bite you on the show. So I'm biting a little loud mouth on the show. We'll see if he accepts it. But all I'm saying is, CJ, you want to call on the show? You're welcome to call on tomorrow with Reesey and Greg

Carr. Oh, don't do that to me. I got the car. Don't do that to me. Oh, God. Well, CJ did go to Howard for a year, but I guess he couldn't hack it around all those black people, so he transferred to the University of Alabama. But that's how it goes.

So, CJ, more to welcome you on the show tomorrow. Bring your ass. I'll see y'all tomorrow. And also, to all y'all Yankees fans, get the hell over it. It's all about the H-Town. Ha! A lot of times, big economic forces show up in our lives in small ways. Four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up.

So now I only buy one. Small, but important ways from tech billionaires to the bond market to yeah, banana pudding. If it's happening in business, our new podcast is on it. I'm Max Chastain. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith.

So listen to everybody's business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast.