It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that controversial civil rights activist Al Sharpton "shakes down" companies for money in exchange for not attacking them as racists, according to former New York Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik.
"I don't think anyone that's followed Sharpton for any period of time would be surprised by the article," Kerik said during an appearance Monday on "America’s Forum" on
Newsmax TV, during which he discussed a
Sunday New York Post story that reported Sharpton takes corporate payoffs to keep quiet.
"It's what he does and I've said this before, he's an opportunist in many of these circumstances."
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Sharpton "took an opportunity at the death of Garner and at the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson to jump on this racist bandwagon and spur and incite people and that's what he does," Kerik added.
"He shakes down these companies for outrageous amounts of money to stay away from them and not create chaos and havoc, and we’ve seen and we've seen nationally … the chaos and havoc he can create when he makes ... this racist anti-cop rhetoric around the nation.
"We've seen the protests, we've seen people burning down communities. We've seen cops be beaten, we've seen people be assaulted. We saw the assassination of two police officers by a man that specifically mentioned on Instagram that he was doing so as a result of the rhetoric that came initially from Al Sharpton."
According to the Post, Sharpton has engaged in corporate shakedowns for more than a decade, buying either his "support or silence" or his "supposed sway in the black community."
The corporate contributions are couched as "donations and consulting fees to Sharpton’s National Action Network," the Post said.
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