Let's End the False Narrative of Racist Cops

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
As someone father days, well,it is to speak the truth that says
men free anytime that source is madeto standard word. Welcome to check for

(00:26):
Chip. I'm Chip Maxwell. Thankyou Lord for answering yes to my prayer
that Omaha not lead the national news. Last night and this morning. Fear
of intensified conflict caused businesses to closeearly throughout the city. Yesterday two of
my children were sent home early fromtheir jobs. Omaha braced for the worst,

(00:47):
but the anticipated ugliness did not materialize. Leaders of Omaha's African American community
criticized the decision to release the whiteclub owner who fatally shot a black man
over the weekend, but they alsocalled for peaceful protest. There was some
defiance of our eight pm curfew bya few hundred people and dozens of arrests,

(01:10):
but nothing like the mayhem of theweekend. At one point, protesters
and I say protesters not rioters.Protesters invited law enforcement officers and National guardsmen
to kneel with them in solidarity forthe wrong done to George Floyd, which
the officers and guardsmen did. Therewere even fist bumps and hugs shared between

(01:34):
lawbreakers and law enforcers again peaceful lawbreakers. Lawbreakers in the sense that they were
violating the curfew, but not throwingbricks or molotov cocktails at police and businesses.
I wonder if the publication of thefacts I'm about to share with you
took the wind out of the sailsof those hoping to ratchet up the violence.

(02:00):
Include in today's podcast a picture publishedin our local newspaper, the Omaha
World Herald. The white club ownerwho shot a young black man to death
is Jake Gardner. Gardner owns theGatsby and the Hive adjacent nightclubs in downtown
Omaha. You see that the Gatsby'sglass front door and large windows on either

(02:21):
side of the door are smashed outto the left or east. The Hives
large front window with the red seatin it is shattered. The Dubliner Pub
is down the staircase to the leftand underground. The shattered window above the
word pub actually is part of theHive. The local prosecutor, Don Klein,

(02:43):
is a Democrat. For those keepingscore on such matters, he has
been reelected numerous times and is respectedthroughout the community. I mention his party
affiliation to snuff the allegation that aRepublican prosecutor in Donald Trump's racist, Republican
and white supremacist America exonerated the whitemurderer. Here are excerpts from the World

(03:07):
Herald's story on the release of Gardner. The name of the shooting victim is
James Skurlock. Klein said that Saturdaynight, standing outside his downtown bar,
Gardner urged the crowd to move along. Gardner could be seen talking with a
group of young men, including Skurlock, and backing up. In one video

(03:27):
circulating online, a cell phone usersays that expletive got a gun. Words
were exchanged and Gardner ended up onhis back in the middle of Harney Street.
He fired two warning shots. Theskirmish continued and Gardner remained on his
back, with Skurlock getting Gardner ina choke hold. Gardner fired again.

(03:50):
That shot hit Skurlock in the neck, killing him. Klein said he would
welcome other video of the incident,but he said it would have to be
substantial different from the evidence officials currentlyhave to change his mind on charges.
The consensus from law enforcement officials whoreviewed the evidence, he said, was
that it was self defense. Again, that was from the Omaha World Herald.

(04:15):
As I said, local black leaderscriticized Kline, but also offered statements
such as this, also from theWorld Herald's story. To those people who
are not from Omaha, who havesinister agendas, get out of my city.
Leave our city. You are notwelcome. You have not sought the
community's council, your disrespecting the community, your disrespecting the family of James Scurlock.

(04:43):
We rebuke you and ask that yougo somewhere else. That was a
bold and welcome statement. I stillwant police locally and nationally to flood social
media with video of interactions between whiteofficers and black suspects. I want to
bury once and for all the allegationthat white police officers are racist and a

(05:08):
racist nation tolerates their racism. Thereare roughly twenty million arrests every year in
America. That means there are millionsof interactions between white officers and black suspects.
If there was systemic racism in thepolice forces of America, there would

(05:28):
be thousands of George Floyd cases everyyear. It would be jammed in our
faces and down our throats by theAmerica hating left. There would be a
new and sensational case featured every dayin the media. There's no way it
could be hidden. With all thedashboard and body camera video that exists,

(05:50):
the worst cases would be leaked tothe media. In addition, you have
citizens with cell phones filming police allthe time. My understanding is that the
video that went viral of the officerkneeling on George Floyd's neck was taken by
a citizen. If the kind ofpolice racism alleged by protesters and rioters actually

(06:14):
existed, it would be impossible tohide. Let me say one more time
that even one George Floyd case peryear is too many. There is no
margin for error when you exercise lethalforce on behalf of the government and society.
Dipping in and out of talk radioover the last week, I have

(06:34):
heard a variety of law enforcement officersall over the nation as guests or callers.
I have not heard a single onedefend what was done to George Floyd.
The condemnation has been unanimous. Policeare as angry as anyone because they
know it reflects badly on all ofthem, and they are frustrated because they

(06:57):
know it is the tiny exception,not the rule. They know it is
literally a one in a million case, not standard operating procedure. As I
record, this dawn is breaking ona beautiful June morning. I hope the
worst is behind us. In theCatholic Church, we celebrated the Feast of

(07:18):
Pentecost over the weekend, the comingof the Holy Spirit to the apostles.
There's a prayer that asks the Lordto send forth the Holy Spirit to renew
the face of the earth. Vanisancte Spiritus, Come, Holy Spirit,
help Omahawk get back to being Omahawk, and help America get back to being

(07:40):
America. That's check with Chip.I'm Chip Maxwell. Thank you for listening.