Crump: We expect officers to be charged as accomplices in killing of George Floyd
Ben Crump, the lead attorney for George Floyd's family, speaks to press and the public at the site of George Floyd's death.
The police-involved death of George Floyd last week in Minneapolis demonstrates an abuse of power and a need for a renewed national conversation about America's criminal justice system, Fox News Radio's Trey Gowdy asserted Tuesday.
In Wednesday's episode of "The Trey Gowdy Podcast," the former House Oversight Committee chairman said all Americans should be angered by Floyd's death.
"So, the image of a police officer with his knee on a man's neck until the life is extinguished and robbed and stolen and taken from him, should anger every single person of good conscience who sees it," he stated.
"It is an abuse of power even if the person lives," Gowdy remarked. "It is an abuse of authority, even if that person lives. It is a violation of the societal contract we have, even if the person lives. In fact, it's a crime, even if the person lives."
Gowdy, a former prosecutor, pointed out that the power that law enforcement officers are given in their jobs comes from the people of the United States and not from a badge or a uniform.
"It comes from us. We give law enforcement powers that we don't have," he added. "And...[at] the very least we have a right to expect that those powers [we] granted in the first place will be used justly."
"It was wrong, even if George Floyd had lived. It was a crime, even if he had lived. It was excessive, even if he had lived. But, he did not. He was killed. And, that is murder. It is the unlawful taking of a life. And, no badge or uniform mitigates that," Gowdy continued.
NYPD Deputy Police Chief McCarthy greets protesters as they take part in a solidarity march for George Floyd, Tuesday, June 2, 2020, in New York. Floyd, a black man died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25.(AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
Protests have swept over the nation in the wake of Floyd's death, with thousands of U.S. citizens defying curfew orders to march through streets in all 50 states.
However, although the protests against police brutality largely started peacefully, rioters and looters have initiated acts of violence against law enforcement agents and officers have acted with brute force themselves.
The former South Carolina Republican congressman decried the actions of those setting fire to their communities, throwing Molotov cocktails, ransacking businesses, "spitting" on the police and "destroying the towns and cities you claim to love."
A horrific viral video shows the final moments of retired St. Louis Police Captain David Dorn. Dorn, 77, was shot and killed while responding to an alarm at a pawnshop Tuesday evening.
"How does treating people unjustly bring about justice? Tell me, how? How does creating more victims help those who have been victimized?" Gowdy asked. "How does setting stuff on fire prove that arson is wrong? How does victimizing cops who haven't done anything wrong? How does victimizing those cops hold cops who have done something wrong accountable?"
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"How does victimizing innocent people honor the memory of an innocent man who himself was victimized?" he wondered.
"Tell me that. You care about George Floyd, an innocent man victimized? How does it honor him to then turn around and do that to others? How does creating more innocent victims honor the memory of an innocent victim?"
"We need a national conversation about our justice system and how it is perceived and how it exists in reality," Gowdy concluded.
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