Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., blames President Donald Trump for the killing of George Floyd, because of the "way he's dog-whistling" police and white supremacists, emboldening them.
"I'm reflecting of all the killings of young black men in particular but of course black woman as well, at the hands of the police and at the hands of, you know, these white supremacists," Waters told TMZ. "I'm thinking about the way that the president conducts himself. In a way he's dog-whistling, and I think that they are feeling that they can get away with this kind of treatment."
Waters also said the police officer "enjoyed" the killing of Floyd, an unarmed man who was not resisting arrest.
"I think that the officer who had his knee on his neck enjoyed doing what he was doing," Waters said. "I believe sometimes some of these officers leave home, thinking I'm going to get me one today. And I think this is his one that he got today. And he didn't care whether or not anybody was photographing him.
"He did what he was doing. And the officers who stood there and watched him are just as guilty as he is, and I'm glad that all of them were fired."
The force in this case was well beyond what was necessary, she added.
"If, in fact, you have subdued a suspect – that you're not in any danger at all because the handcuffs are on him – there's no reason for the police to do what these police did. And they don't even mention in the report that the knee was on the neck George Floyd. You give them the right they would say to shoot you if you interfere with an arrest."
Waters praised those who filming the killing, exposing the police misconduct.
"What we're finding is that the justice system does not work," Waters concluded. "Because the justice system will find a way to protect those officers in most cases, they will find justifiable homicide. And that's what we've got to deal with. We've got to deal with the fact that we're in America with a justice system that does not work for everybody."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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