During an interview on CNN on May 31, national security adviser Robert O'Brien denied that there is systemic racism that exists in the police forces in America. O'Brien also argued there are only a few bad police officers that give law enforcement a bad name.
Systemic racism
Robert O'Brien appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" with Jake Tapper and he was asked if systemic racism is alive and well in police agencies all across the United States.
O'Brien said that he does not think that there is systemic racism and he thinks that 99.9% of the law enforcement officers are great Americans.
O'Brien added that many of the law enforcement officers are of different races and they are all working the toughest neighborhood and they have the hardest jobs to do in the country. He added that there are "some bad apples" in the force and there are bad cops who are racist. He also called for the firing of the "bad apples" and the racist cops.
O'Brien is referring to the protests against police brutality and racism towards the black community in the United States, and the protest is the aftermath of George Floyd's death. He also said that the violence that has broken out during the protest is driven by militants and that he had not seen any reports that white supremacists added to the already tense situation.
According to O'Brien, President Donald Trump and everyone in the White House support peaceful protests and the right of every American to be heard.
Anti-racism protest
George Floyd was an unarmed black man who was killed by a white policeman, Officer Derek Chauvin after he pressed his knee on his neck for almost 9 minutes. The incident happened in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where the first protest also took place last week.
The protesters are calling for the rightful conviction of Derek Chauvin and the other three police officers who just stood by and watched. So far, officials only charged Chauvin with third-degree murder and manslaughter, which the public and Floyd's family says is not enough as it should be first-degree murder.
Even though the protesters in the country are calling for justice in Floyd's murder, they also want to draw attention to hundreds of African American lives lost to police violence and racism, including Eric Garner and Mike Brown.
After O'Brien, Democratic Senator Cory Booker also talked to Jake Tapper about the ongoing protests on the streets. He said that black people in communities all across America live in fear of the police. His statement took a different tone from O'Brien who assured the public that there is systemic racism in the force.
Sen. Booker, who represents New Jersey, then said that the protest happening now is not just a reaction to Floyd's murder, but it is the final nail in the coffin after years of oppression and blatant racism.
Former Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden spoke last week about the trauma and the anxiety that black people feel constantly while living in America.