Jackson Lee on MN Violence: We Don't Need to Hear 'If You See Looting, Then You Start Shooting' -- But Local Officials 'Acted Too Slowly'

Friday, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) weighed in on the violence that erupted Thursday in Minneapolis over the death of forgery suspect George Lloyd while in police custody.

Although she acknowledged law enforcement in Minnesota like acted too slowly, she criticized President Donald Trump’s tweet warning protesters against looting.

“All of us are praying for peace,” she said. “We want peace. Certainly the tweet of the President of the United States, the Commander in Chief who initiated and said he wanted a thorough federal investigation, I am holding in my hand a letter that has been signed by members of the Judiciary Committee to articulate that for Breonna, for Ahmaud, and now for George. A deep dive of FBI and U.S. attorneys, but we don’t need language that says if you see looting, then you start shooting. I do think that the local law officials acted too slowly and obviously pain generated into violence. Violence does not help another violent situation, so all of us are calling for peace. And I believe that the leadership of the local officials should actually go to Minneapolis. They should be seen in Minneapolis.”

“I’m not from Minneapolis, of course,” Jackson Lee continued. “I know the outstanding congresswoman who is there who will present in the community, has been present in the community and others, but that is the way you say to people we care, we love you. But the other way you say is for the very law enforcement that they operate under, that they adhere to every day.”

“And let me say this, Dana,” she added. “We don’t know the facts about a check or a $20 bill. We don’t have any knowledge of whether or not Mr. Floyd knew anything about what that particular item was. He is innocent until proven guilty. He was not a person that was caught with a gun, robbing a bank, or doing anything. The gentle giant was in a store or in a facility as I understand it. So the treatment that he got, the fact that he is dead, is so absurd. And I want to say this. I would like, Dana, for the people listening to not see me in any other way as a mother, a person who has people who are hurting in our community, as a person who loves this nation to try and understand our pain. So to answer your question, we do not want to see looting. We do not want to see violence. We want people to be calmed down. We have to be in the community to let them know that.”

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