Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani says that the media focusing on the Ferguson, Missouri grand jury should spend more attention on why white police officers are in black neighborhoods to start with.
"I find it very disappointing that you're not discussing the fact that 93 percent of blacks in America are killed by other blacks," Giuliani said Sunday on "Meet the Press."
The case of white police officers killing blacks are the exception rather that the rule, he said.
"We are talking about the significant exception," Giuliani said.
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But a very heated author and professor Michael Eric Dyson said Giuliani was drawing a "false equivalency," saying that most blacks who kill other blacks go to jail and they are not sworn by the state to uphold the law.
Giuliani said 70 percent to 75 percent of crime in New York City takes place in predominantly black areas, and that's why there is a large police presence in those places.
"The white police officers wouldn't be there if you weren't killing each other," Giuliani said.
The debate was sparked by discussion of the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri in August. The unarmed 18-year-old was killed by white police officer Darren Wilson, sparking weeks of protests, some of which turned violent.
Giuliani says people pushing for an indictment from the grand jury probing the Michael Brown killing in Ferguson, Missouri are perverting the criminal justice system.
"This grand jury is under incredible pressure … to indict. I feel sorry for these people because they know if they walk out of that grand jury room and have not indicted they may have created a massive riot in their city and maybe throughout the United States," Giuliani said.
"To me, that kind of pressure is completely inconsistent with the American criminal justice system. And the people who are putting on that pressure should be ashamed of themselves," the former mayor said.
Fear of more unrest has led Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon to declare a state-of-emergency pre-emptively.
Nixon, a Democrat, has faced criticism for that move, but Giuliani said he understood since he found himself in similar situations as mayor of America's largest city.
"I would have had a state of emergency, but I would have kept it quiet," Giuliani said. He said he would have had police on alert and placed them where they wouldn't be seen by the public so they would be ready at a moment's notice to stop any kind of violence.
But, he added, Nixon was in a no-win situation.
"Had he not declared a state of emergency, he'd probably get criticized for not doing it," Giuliani said.
The ex-mayor said he is concerned that no one is explaining to the public that grand juries are kept secret to protect innocent people since that system has a lower burden of proof than court.
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