Appearing on “Fox & Friends Weekend,” civil rights attorney and Fox News contributor Leo Terrell lauded actor Morgan Freeman over the actor’s public stance against defunding the police.
“Well, you know, I hope he has plenty of job security and financial stability because he’s going to be attacked by … Cori Bush and the Left,” Terrell said, referencing Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), a radical member of “the Squad.”
Terrell continued, saying it troubles him that there are some who believe all “black people think the same way,” and that they all “hate the police,” when in reality, “Democratic cities, people of color, of all color, they want the police.”
Morgan Freeman is in that Hollywood elite, so he’s going to get some blowback. I applaud him for speaking out because it shatters this ridiculous concept that we think alike; we all hate the police. We don’t hate the police. We love the police because 98% of them … maybe 99%, they protect us 24/7. When we’re asleep at night, they’re out there protecting us.
LEO TERRELL: “The Democrats want to play the ‘hate the police’ card game. They blocked Trump when trying to get police reform done, now they won’t pass any. They like the police issue, they like to keep it alive. It’s a sickening game.” pic.twitter.com/en0CA4DOHK
— Martin Golobič (@martingolobich) October 10, 2021
During a recent interview regarding a film he executive produced based on the true story of Kenneth Chamberlain, Morgan Freeman was asked by Selena Hill of Black Enterprise about his position on police.
“I heard you say in the past, Mr. Freeman, that you are not actually for defunding police, but more so for a transformation,” Hill said. “Can you just clarify what your stance [is]?”
“I’m not in the least bit for defunding the police,” Freeman replied. “Police work is, aside from all the negativity around it, it is very necessary for us to have them and most of them are guys that are doing their job. They’re going about their day-to-day jobs. [There are] some policemen who would never even pull their guns except, you know, [on the] range, that sort of thing. I don’t know.”
Prior to that question, Freeman had stated that he believes policing should be reformed.
“The big hope is that there’ll be a big push for police reform. Policing as we have known it, I guess since the beginning of policing in this country, has not been a merciful operation, particularly in the black community,” Freeman said. “And the poorer the community, the more chance there is gonna be of people being shot and killed for little or no reason.”
The actor then spoke about his involvement in an initiative in the law department at the University of Mississippi that is “going to address this issue.”
According to a June news release from the university:
Actor Morgan Freeman and criminal justice and legal studies professor Linda Keena have donated $1 million to establish the Center for Evidence-Based Policing and Reform at the University of Mississippi…
The goal of the project, according to the news release, is multifaceted, “beginning with training for police and other law enforcement,” and “using evidence-based practices that allow officers to be more proactive,” in addition to other objectives.