The Daily Show: Ears Edition - ICYMI - Fallout Over the Breonna Taylor Grand Jury Decision

Episode Date: September 28, 2020

Trevor discusses a Kentucky grand jury's decision not to file homicide charges against police officers for the killing of Breonna Taylor, which set off a surge of protests. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look, starting September 17th, wherever you get your podcasts. For months now, Brianna Taylor's name has been chanted by

millions of people around the globe, demanding that the police who killed her be held accountable. And yesterday, the grand jury made its decision. New calls for racial justice fueled by pain, frustration, and outright disappointment. Once again, rippling across this nation, overnight protests broke out in multiple cities after a grand jury decided that no charges would be brought against Louisville police in the shooting death of Brianna Taylor. The protest started in Louisville, but quickly spread across this country. Demonstrations took place from coast to coast, LA to NYC.

Crowds gathered outside police departments and courthouses and held marches in places like Milwaukee and Atlanta, demanding justice for the 26-year-old killed while she was asleep in her apartment. The grand jury determined that the officers were justified in firing the fatal shots because Taylor's boyfriend fired at them first. An officer who was later fired was indicted but for shooting into a neighbor's apartment, nothing for the killing of Brianna Taylor. Yes, all over the US frustrated people reacted to a disappointing but predictable decision, with only one officer being indicted, and not for shooting Brianna Taylor, but for shooting in the direction of her neighbors.

And you know, as I watched what unfolded yesterday, like whether it was in the streets of Kentucky, or between people interacting online, I found myself asking one question, one question that just couldn't get unstuck from my mind. That was who is winning in this whole thing. And I'm not talking about who this helps in the election. You know, like you take Donald Trump and Joe Biden out of this because I don't think that this is an issue that will be solved by just an election. I'm talking about on the ground, the lives of people, who is winning? Because to me, it looks like nobody is winning. Brianna Taylor's family isn't winning. They lost a loved one.

They got no justice, and they've been thrust into a political firestorm. Black people definitely aren't winning, because they've basically been told that a cop can just barge into your house and shoot you. And not only that, they can say that they were defending themselves in your house. And as if that wasn't wild enough, they'll only get in trouble for the shots that they missed. Sometimes, you'd like, if only the criminal, the criminal, the criminal, the criminal, the criminal, the criminal, the criminal, the criminal, the criminal, the criminal, the shots that they missed? Sometimes, you'd like, if only the criminal justice system valued black people as much

as drywall, because black people always told the same things, the same things, time and time again, oh, just be a good person. You know what, if you just had a job, you know what, if you just didn't do crime, the cops would leave you alone. the cops would leave the thoff. tho. tho. th. th. th. th. th. th. And, th. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. th. C. C. C. th. th. th. th. th th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. th. the. the. t. t t toda. toda. toda. toda. toda. the the toda. the the. the. the the. the. the the. the. toda What is it now? Now it's become, well, don't hang out with criminals or don't hang out with people who might have a history as criminals or don't hang out with associates. Don't even live in a neighborhood that's considered to be criminal. But you wouldn't have to tell black people all of that because if you told the police to do their job better and not burst into places assuming everyone is a criminal

threat, then this wouldn't happen. Black people aren't winning. Why doesn't America treat the police as responsible for their own actions? They're police. They're not bears. If they were bears, then you can say, oh, black people, you shouldn't be hanging around the honey. I mean, you're going to get hurt, but they're not. They're human beings. They're human beings who should be held accountable for what they do. And you know, America tells people a story. America tells people that the Second Amendment means you should get a gun to protect yourself. But then that same America tells you that if you use your gun to protect yourself in your home, then the cops have a right to kill you.

And that sounds like a tyrannical government to me. And if your answer is, well, don't shoot back at the police. Well, don't shoot back at the police officers that you mistake as intruders. I mean, you're admitting what we all knew is true. And that is, America is a police state and its most protected class are police officers. To me, it sounds like nobody is winning. Because the police are also not winning. All that happens now is that they lose the trust of the community that they're meant to protect and serve. And now, as police as police as police as police as police as police as th as th as th as th as th as th as thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiolk. thiolk. thiolk. thiolome. thiolome. thioliolome. thioliolioliolome. thiol-in. thiol-in. thiol-in. thoomomomom…. thoomom…. thoomom. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thust of the community that they're meant to protect and serve. And now as police, they're running around, paranoid as f-

f-shunding through the streets, praying to God that they don't get shot. Now two of them were shot, which only increases that paranoia. Now police are out there paranoid. The families of police are paranoid, when their parents leave, when their husbands or wives leaves, they're paranoid. Right? Because now they feel like an occupying force who's there to fight against the people of the city, but that's not what policing is supposed to be. You can't have effective policing if the community isn't on your side. Police aren't winning.

Being a policeman in America is already terrifying. You told every single day from your training that any moment someone's going to pull a gun out of a glove compartment and shoot you. That's what you're trained to believe. And in part, it's true because America has so many guns. Doesn't matter if it happens or not, it's in your mind. Police are not winning. Black Lives Matter is not winning when this happens. Black Lives Matter is not winning when this happens. Because now people say like, well, then, why don't you control all their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their tho. tho. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. thi. thi, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. It is is th. It is th. It is th. It is th. It is th. It's is th. It's is th. It's is thin. t tr. tr tr truu. tru. tru. tru. tru. tru. tru. true. true. It's is te. t Lives Matter has repeatedly said that they're a nonviolent organization. And people say like, well, then why don't you control

all your members? Well, because unlike the police force, they don't have a membership structure. They don't have a record of their employees. Anyone can march in the street and claim that they say it's Black Lives Matter. We don't know. But what we do know is that a policeman is a policeman. They're people that can be held accountable. They're part of a structure.

And when they're not held accountable, only chaos will ensue. Nobody's winning, people. The protesters aren't winning. Yeah, maybe there's 2% of protesters out there who are just trying to fuck shit up for fun, but by and large protesters do not want to be protesting. People don't want to be marching through the streets, clashing with police, getting tear gas, getting beaten, getting arrested. They would much rather be living their lives. But they protest because other people can't live their lives. No one looks at a march where people are beaten by the cops and thinks, oh, this is a great opportunity to get my steps in. Black people are exhausted. Millions of Americans are exhausted.

They're tired. Tired of feeling like they're hunted. Tired of protests in the streets in order to be viewed as equals. They're tired of people telling them how to protest. And trust me when I say, black people would rather be at home taking a nap. Nobody is winning. And you know what, yesterday got to me, but like, was especially the part where the Kentucky AG said to people, angry about this decision, that mob justice is not justice. Yeah, but then what happens when justice is not justice?

Think about what part of this was justice. If you want to say, oh, well, the police followed the letter of the law, did they? Did they? What part of it is justice? If you lie to the police about what happened during a crime, the police can charge you with something, but if the police lie about what they did, nobody faces any consequences? Is that justice? What does it mean when the system says ssss, tha is tha, tha, tha, tha, toeee, toe, toe, toe, toe, thuuui, thui, thui, thui, thui, the, thuse, thuse, thususus, thi, thi, the, thi, thi, thi, thi, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the, the, the, the, the, the, the, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean.oooooooea, thean, the. mean when the system says everything that happened in this Brianna Taylor shooting was legal? Issuing the no-knock warrant was legal, breaking down the door was legal, killing her in her bed was legal. I mean at that point you can say mob justice isn't justice but then

clearly justice isn't justice either. And the truth is people, nobody's winning. As society we are all losing right now. And until there's real justice, nobody wins. and videos at the Daily Show.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more. This has been a Comedy Central Podcast. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television.

Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look. Starting September 17th, wherever you get your podcasts. .

.