Hawk Newsome, who is co-founder of BLM in New York City, was asked by host Dan Bongino for his position regarding violence linked to the group's riots in recent years and a threat he made earlier in the week as he insisted that new policing plans for New York City by incoming Mayor Eric Adams would trigger "riots and bloodshed" in the streets.
"Do you condemn rioting and burning down buildings?" Bongino asked throughout the interview.
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"No. What I'll say is, I understand when a police officer unjustifiably kills someone, why people lash out. I understand that completely," Newsome announced. "I'm not going to condemn, nor am I going to condone it."
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Bongino did not seem satisfied with the answer and pushed once again, asking Newsome if his remark was "cowardly."
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The two went on to butt heads, with Newsome at one point stating that Bongino was "trying to bait" him before removing his audio wire and ending the interview.
Saturday's interview came after an address Newsome made on Wednesday outside Brooklyn Borough Hall, which saw him deliver some hard words for the incoming mayor, should he go through with his intentions to reinstate the NYPD's plainclothes cop units.
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"If he thinks that they're going to go back to the old ways of policing, then we are going to take to the streets again. There will be riots, there will be fire and there will be bloodshed because we believe in defending our people,'' Newsome had told reporters.
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Newsome told the New York Daily News Friday that he made his "riot" remarks because he was triggered by a question regarding plainclothes officers.
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"It made me think about the death of Eric Garner, it made me think about the death of Breonna Taylor, it made me think of the death of George Floyd," he said in a phone interview, according to the daily mail, referring to three black Americans killed by cops. "And to think that Eric Adams is legitimately wanting to put our children in danger — it scares me."
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On Saturday evening, Bongino - who used to be a former officer with the NYPD and worked as a Secret Service agent - asked Newsome an apparently simple question regarding demonstrations and rioting on the street.
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"Do you condemn riots and the burning down of buildings after a police use-of-force incident you don't like?" Bongino asked.
"Dr. King said riots are the voice of the unheard," Newsome replied. "It is a natural occurrence that people can continue to be oppressed, they will lash out. That's it."
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