Jeff Pastor, a member of the Cincinnati city council and a Republican, pleaded with his community during an interview with WLWT-TV to stop the violence and to stop encouraging kids to attack cops.
Violent riots have broken out in Cincinnati and a number of other U.S. cities following the police-related death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Pastor spoke as tears streamed down his eyes while teenagers attacked cops nearby.
“What I can’t understand is that, this is the Cincinnati police. This is not Minneapolis police. And what they’re doing is absolutely horrendous,” Pastor began. “As a member of city council, this is my first time ever seeing something like this. When this first happened in 2001, I was only 17 years old, right? I can’t understand for the life of me what is going on right now in the city of Cincinnati.”
Pastor continued, saying he would “be here until these folks and other folks are protected.”
It was at this point that Pastor began to break, explaining to WLWT-TV that young teenagers were being encouraged to attack cops.
“Let me tell you something, there are people down here who are encouraging 14-year-old kids,” Pastor said as his eyes began to water. “These babies are 14 years old, man, and they’re encouraging them to throw f***ing bottles at the cops. And these grown people are encouraging our babies to fight.”
He continued: “This is not their fight. And I don’t give a f*** how mad or angry you are with what is happening with the police, but these 15-year-old kids have nothing to do with this, man.”
Pastor went on to explain that the cops in Cincinnati had nothing to do with what happened in Minneapolis.
“These cops, black cops, white cops, or whatever, they did not do anything. And I’m not here to take one side or the other, but what I’m suggesting to the people of Cincinnati is that, what type of success are you going to have with attacking these people that have nothing to do with this?” he asked.
“And what I’m saying is, is that you got people down here that are literally encouraging kids to attack cops. You are encouraging the kids to attack cops and they’re using Emmett Till, they’re using Martin Luther King to justify why these 14- or 15-year-old kids should be out here. These are former students of mine, you see what I’m saying?” he continued.
Emmett Till was lynched in 1955 after a white woman accused him of making inappropriate passes at her. Decades later, Carolyn Bryant admitted she had lied when she claimed Till grabbed her waist and uttered obscenities.
Pastor then implored residents of Cincinnati to stop the violence.
“I am saying, I am imploring, that before this pops and this gets bad – they’re throwing bricks, they just threw a brick at the f***ing cops – it’s wrong. I’m telling you it’s wrong,” he continued. “And I’m so nervous and I’m so scare for these kids. They’re kids. There are kids around, there are kids across the street who live downtown and City West, and these people are out here encouraging them.”
Pastor then used his status “as an elder in the African-American community” to call on other African-Americans to stop encouraging kids to commit crimes.
“If any African-American is encouraging these 14- and 15-year-old kids to be out here, they are wrong. That’s wrong. These cops didn’t do anything to George Floyd. This is wrong. I don’t give a f*** how you see it. It’s wrong,” Pastor concluded, before apologizing for swearing.
Candace Owens posted the video of Pastor’s interview.
If you watch one video about these protests please let this be it. This made me cry.
I have said since day one that this is nothing but a ploy by white liberals, which will destroy another generation of black youth. These #AntifaTerrorists are targeting black kids & neighborhoods pic.twitter.com/F5eykXOw8X— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) May 31, 2020
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a member.