July 16, 2025 • 29 mins
George Williams, the newly appointed Chairman of the Minority Alabama GOP talks about his vision for the party, then Anna Topping from Tech Birmingham talks about their Inaugural Idea Pitch competition to encourage and reward Tech innovation in Alabama.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
A new leader, but the mission remains the same. Hello,
I'm John Mounch and this is Viewpoint Alabama on the
Alabama Radio Network. George Williams of Baldwin County has recently
been announced to be the next chairman for the Alabama
Minority GOP. He joins me now, George walk in the Viewpoint.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Thank you glad to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
I'm glad to have you on. In the state of Alabama,
the Republican Party seems to hold all the cards in
many parts of the state, but there's certain pockets, mostly
in the majority the metropolitan areas and in the Black Belt,
with GOP, the message doesn't seem to resonate. Why do
you think that is.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
I think it's because of the propaganda really of the Democrats, Okay,
and there are some other factors also that if you
live in those neighborhoods, you can't put the Republican signs
on your lawn or on your property, and there's a
little fear. It's called the fear factor.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
I one time heard this referred to as the crabs
in a bucket analogy, where there are crabs stuck in
a bucket, and if one of the crabs attempts to
try and grasp the edge of the bucket and pull
itself out. The other crabs inside of the bucket will
grab it and pull it back down. It doesn't want
the crabs don't want the other crab to succeed. In
much the same way, these people who are in this
state of misery, they don't want anyone to be able
(01:20):
to pull themselves out. And so you run the risk
of running a foul of your neighbors if you try
and do something different, if you try and actually pull
yourself out of the mess, you're in invoting your own
best interest.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Correct, correct, And even me, you know, sometimes I received
threats being a black man and a Republican. You know,
they come up and say, hey, you know, why are
you doing that? You're racist? And so there is a
little flow of factor. But that doesn't bother me.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
And that seems so ironic because if you look back
into the sixties, when it was Democrats who were intimidating
black people to get them to vote a certain way,
not to go to certain places because they wanted to
control you. And here we fast forward fifty or sixty
years later, and once again you have Democrats who are
trying to control a certain population, the black population, to
(02:18):
say that you must vote this way. You should all
line up and do the same thing, because we all
need to be behind a certain agenda. Heaven forbid people
have a mind of their own or think for themselves.
And I guess you were able to buck the trend.
But it wasn't easy, that's correct.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
And I remember my parents, grandparents, who are everybody was
you know, was born here in Alabama, and I was
born in Alabama before I was ten, and we laughed,
and we went to New Jersey, my mother, father and
their eight children. And it used to be that way.
We were all Republicans then, okay, and thanks changed since
(03:00):
the nineteen sixty four of the Civil Rights Bill that
changed everything for black folks.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
And with the passing of the Civil Rights legislation, I
guess the Democrat Party said we are going to own this.
This is ours, and because we own this legislation, we
also own you, so to speak. We own you, we
own your votes. We're going to take that from now
on out, and we're going to be in charge of
your votes. We will do whatever we say, this is
(03:28):
what's right for you. Even though many of the policies,
especially when you look at many of the policies, the
Democrat policies of like the Great Society in LBJ. Many
of these policies were actually antithetical to what is right,
what is the best thing for the black community. But
yet because they're Democrats, everyone just kind of went along
with it.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
That's true. And during the Civil Rights Bill, you know,
President Johnson decided, you know, they're not for their enough.
But it was a Senator, it would Irkson and Congressman
Gerald Ford who later on became President Ford who sponsored
(04:06):
those bills. So Johnson didn't have to call Republicans to
get them to support the bill. He had to call
Democrat the Dixiecrats, you know, Strong Sturmit and all those guys.
And so as a result of that Civil Rights Bill
being passed, uh, you know, you had the NAACP, you know,
(04:29):
try and convince the black voters that it was a
Democrats who did that, and it was not. It was
a Republicans. And subsequently the Democrats became surrogates for the Uh,
I'm sorry, the NAACP became surrogates for the Democratic Party,
which is where they are today.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
George Williams, the new the new chairman of the Alabama
Minority GOP, is joining us on Viewpoint Alabama. George, I'd
like to talk with you about the redistricting because it
has changed the political landscape a little bit in South Alabama.
First of all, do you think the redistricting was necessary
for there? Because they referred to it as a majority
minority district and then they referred to the one in
(05:09):
South Alabama as a majority I believe they said a
minority opportunity district. Do you think that redistricting was necessary
or do you think that the South Alabama could have
had good representation without the redistricting.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Well, I think it was not necessary. I think we
had really good representation, and I think it was something
that was done in spite by the Democratic Party along
with the Southern Probably Law Center. Okay, so, and it's
still in court. It's still in court, and hopefully it
(05:43):
would be it will be overruled because if you look
at the person who was elected, Samario figures, he's one
of the ones who voted against the bill to keep
boys and men's out of women's sports. I mean, this
is unbelievable, and so they need to make that change.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
It seems to me, a lot of the legislation proposed
by Shamari figures not only is well it's in lockstep
with the rest of the Democratic Party, but it's also
probably even a little bit further left than Terry Seol
because it is very it doesn't seem like it represents
the state of Alabama. Well, rather it represents the objectives
(06:25):
of the Democratic Party, and I think it feels like
it just feels like he's even further left than Terry Seoll.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Well, Terry school she also voted against it, So to me,
they're running side by side with the Democratic Party.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
George, do you think it's possible the second district could
be swung back into play for the Republican Party or
at this point the only thing that would bring it
out of Democrat control is to undo the redistricting. Do
you think there's actually a chance that the state could
actually overcome that on its own.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Well, whichever way, I think it's going to come back
into the of the Republican Party because some of the
their votes in the Congress is unbelievable. It's not with
what the citizens of Alabama want in that district, and
so they're la puppets for the Democratic Party, and you
(07:20):
see all over the United States this is happening.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
You're listening to Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network.
My name is John mountsin and speaking with the newly
elected GOP Minority Chair George Williams. George, let's turn our
attention to the gubernatorial election coming up. As you know,
Kivy is term restrict issues, not running again, and there
are a lot of people who have thrown their hats
into the ring. Do you want to offer a prediction
(07:45):
who you think will be the winner and who you
would like to be the winner of the governor seat.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
I think it's going to be the coach. And you know,
I really got to know him doing the convention Republican
Convention in Cleveland, and I think he is good. He's
going to be good for Alabama. The most important, one
(08:13):
of the most important elements is guts, and to fight
the Democrats and get this country and state and whatever
back together, you need a person with guts, okay, and
he's got that and he stands on this principle. So
I would like for him to be the governor of Alabama.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
And if your predictions are correct, and we do see
Senator Tuberville move to the Governor's mansion. Now we have
his open Senate seat, and I know there's a lot
of people who are throwing their hat in for that
race as well and this race. It's interesting because we're
going to have a situation where Alabama's senior senator is
actually going to be Katie Britt, Because our junior senator
(08:56):
will be the next person to replace Tommy Tubberville in
the Senate race, will draw a lot of attention nationally.
Who do you think is the best fit for this office.
We've had some senators in the past that have not
been maybe the best for the state of Alabama, and
we've had some really great ones, like Senator Shelby, who
brought home a lot of what brought home the bacon
(09:17):
half the stuff in Birmingham is called the Shelby Biomedical Building.
To Shelby, this the Shelby that what do we what
do you think in terms of who are our next
senator to replace Tupperville will be?
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Well, first of all, I don't really think it matters.
You see what happened with with Jeff Sessions and uh
and our other senior citizens, and then Katie Burrett and
the coach Taberville took over. You know, the Senate only
has each senator only has one vote. Okay, So to me,
(09:48):
it doesn't matter that much. Uh, you know, whoever takes
it over, I like, you know, both of them and
h so whomever take over from Tubberville. Uh, you know,
he's one vote for the for the for the stake
(10:09):
for Alabama. So I don't think that really matters that much.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Other than the fact that we could see external My
concern is we could see external money flow into the race,
as we saw in the previous election for that seat
back when we ended up with Doug Jones in the position,
and I almost blew my mind. We had a Democrat
back in representing Alabama in the Senate. The last time
we saw that was when haw Hefflin was there. So
(10:34):
it was incredible to see what outside money can do
in terms of swinging the election. Well, I guess outside
money combined with the ineptitude of Roy Moore. But Roy Moore,
you know, he didn't deserve what he got. And you
noticed that a lot of the accusers that kept him
out of office magically just sort of disappeared after Doug
Jones won.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Doug Jones was the Democrat and to me it was
it was a zero and his time was limited. But
when you have a senator who's been elected and we
know that senator is going to be there for six years,
to me, it's psychologically different, okay, because they have to
(11:17):
you know, make deals with between themselves and we'll get money.
I mean, predent Trump loves Alabama. I can tell you that, okay,
and he's going to make sure that Alabama gets they're
necessary funding. So I don't have a problem with that.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
George, as your role is the chairman of the Alabama
Minority GOP, what sort of things do we expect to
see from you? What kind of initiatives are you going
to champion.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
We're going to be doing a lot of outreach to
try and convince, you know, black voters that they should
get off of that sinking ship the USS Democrat and
they're not listen to the n w p CP and
you know those Democrats in Washington, because we should not
(12:11):
put all of our eggs in one basket, which is
what the Democrat Party and the Democratic politicians want us
to do. As black folks. Okay, we all have a
better chance if we you know, very our selections when
(12:31):
we vote. So you know, we're in a loser, loser
position because if you look at the United States and
how it is now right now, black folks are at
the bottom of the totem pole. Okay, the Equal Rights Bill,
civil Rights Bill. Really after that we started going downhill.
(12:54):
We started going downhill. So I think what we have
to do is start. And when when I was with
Governor Riley and Governor Bentley, we used to set up
meetings in the black community with the black preachers and
the black ministers and black pastors to convince the black voters.
But you have you had Jesse Jackson out there and
(13:17):
Al Sharpton and uh and a lot of those guys,
and they were convincing the black folks that the Democratic
Party was the way to go, which it is not
the way to go. And we all know that and
we see it every day. So we go and talk outreach.
It's most important for us.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
George. An interesting political shift we've seen recently is that
of the younger voters, because there are a lot of
younger voters who put Donald Trump in offices last time around.
Of course, it's important to be able to reach the
older voters and you seem like you're definitely going to
be able to reach out to a lot of African
American older voters to bring them back into the Republican
Party if they're not already there. But what about younger voters.
(13:58):
Do you see this as a possible ground that it
might be even more fertile for you to bring some
of these younger African Americans into the Republican Party, to
bring them in and get them voting as Republicans.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Well, we are already doing that in Alabama, just like
in the rest of America. When they voted for Trump.
Governor Riley had a very large black vote. Governor Bentley
had a very large Black vote. And right now, when
I talk to young young blacks, and I'm talking about
(14:30):
from eighteen eighteen to forty five, I'm telling you they
are Republicans. A lot of them don't like to come
out and say that, but they tell me that they
are Republicans, but they don't want other people to know that.
And so it's all about outreach. And our churches are
(14:52):
very important because when I grew up and even during
the slave thy days and following that, the churches played
a key row. When Maud Luther King started in the fifties.
He didn't fall under the umbrella, he didn't proceed under
the umbrella of the NAACP. He created his own group,
(15:15):
the SCLC Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Okay, And I think
that is most important for people to know and don't
listen to the NAACP folks because they are surrogates for
the Democratic Party. And I talk to them a lot
(15:37):
and try to convince those folks and the NAACP and
the older folks, Look, what are you guys doing. What
are you Why are you pursuing this? You're hurting your
people in the for the future. So we are concentrating
on the younger generations.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
George Williams, the new chairman of the Alabama Minority GOP.
Thank you so much for joining me this week on
Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
All right, thank you, and I'll be back again if
you want me to.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
George, we always have an open invitation for you here
at Viewpoint Alabama. My name is John Mount and this
is the Alabama Radio Network. And there's an organization not
far from the studios we're in right now called Innovate Birmingham,
and they have a contest that's designed to award some
people with great innovative ideas. Joining me now is Anna topic. Anna,
welcome to Viewpoint.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Thank you so much, glad to be here.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
There is a program that you guys have you're going
to or you're offering fifty thousand dollars of a grand
prize in the inaugural sloss Tech Idea Southeast Pitch Competition.
Explain what this is, why it was, why you came
up with it, and how it works.
Speaker 4 (16:44):
We partnered with the Regions Foundation who made this pitch
competition possible, so they actually approached us saying, hey, we'd
love to see a pitch competition on slass Tech platform
and be able to bring founders both from Alabama and
the rest of the Southeast here and you know, of
course provide funding so that the winners can come away
(17:04):
with some sort of cash prize to invest in.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Their business as well as the on site opportunities.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
So it was a really big deal for us to
be able to do that as part of Sauce Tech,
which we see as a platform already lifting up founders
and entrepreneurs and everyone around technology in the state.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
But to be able to.
Speaker 4 (17:24):
Bring that in and not only have founders from Alabama,
but also other founders from the Southeast all converge here
in Birmingham and both compete for cash prizes, but also
get connected with potential funders and potential customers and also
just you know, peers that they can learn from in
their entrepreneurial journeys.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
So it's just sort of like a shark tank shark
tank kind of thing where if somebody comes in there
with a big idea, but they need a little bit
of in cash infusion to sort of make it happen.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
So a little bit.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
So these are established businesses, but they're very early stage.
So it's focused on early stage companies that are existing
currently and working on their products that are tech and
tech adjacent. Then from there it's like we see this
as an opportunity to help them accelerate their business both
through yes, the cash prizes, but also the support we're
(18:14):
able to offer as part of the experience.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
And I'm sure the support is important because there's networking involved.
Nobody can do something all by themselves. Very rarely does
anyone do something all by themselves. They need help, and
sometimes not just you know, their mom and dad or
the next door neighbor but people who are also in
the industry more established, have those connections to sort of say, hey,
I know exactly what you need. I know a guy
who's in metallurgy, or I know a person who handles distribution, whatever.
(18:37):
This is a way for you to connect them.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
Yeah, So before they even get to the event, we
were able to offer, you know, some pitch workshops to
help them with their pitch that they'll be doing on
stage and connect them with some on the ground entrepreneurs
to review their pitch decks and to connect with them
to support them.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
So what are some of the types of businesses that
you see? Are these all tech specific or some of
them just startups that are more service oriented or web based,
all the above.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Yeah, So it's.
Speaker 4 (19:04):
All under the broad umbrella of tech. But we did
actually have four industry tracks this year which we're focused
on four of the industry priorities that an economic development
report from about Alabama had come from.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
So we actually had agriculture.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
And food technologies as one, health tech and biotech as
a second, emerging technologies as a third, which was sort
of a catch all just under the umbrella of tech,
and then the fourth was mobility and transportation technology. So
all the companies that applied applied for one of those
four and we were able to select four companies from
(19:41):
each category that are developing innovations underneath those focuses.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
This is Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network. My
name is John Mountain speaking with Antatopic Geesworth Tech, Birmingham,
and we're talking about this program. Did this last tech thing?
Is it something that just happened or is about to happen?
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Yes, it just happened at the end of June.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
So the so you had a winner, yes, we did.
Who who was the big winner?
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Yeah, So we actually had our Our grand prize winner
was Wink Therapeutics. They are a startup that's focused on
a solving type one diabetes with an innovation around precision
targeting using RNA. You know, that's a little beyond my understanding,
but it's very cool and very technical acid that's all
(20:27):
I yes, exactly. But so they were the grand prize
winner and we're really excited for them, and we also
had a people's Choice and then each of the categories
had a winner, but Wink Therapeutics walked away with the
fifty thousand dollars that was the grand.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Price, and that money goes right back into their work
to continue developing what they're working on.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Yes, so it's not it's not just like a take
it and go on vacation. Is take it and go
back to work exactly.
Speaker 4 (20:50):
Yeah, it can be used basically to develop you know,
their business and what they're doing. It doesn't can't go
toward operational expenses, but anything else is fair game, and
we do. You know, we'll do an impact report around
six months to see how the funding was able.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
To help them.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
How many people submitted for this, Yeah, we had a
little over one hundred I think it was like one
hundred and seven applications for sixteen spots in all Alabama
businesses all across the southeast.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
So we actually had most of them most I would
say about half the applicants for Alabama. But we had
I think every Southeast state except for Arkansas represented in
our applications.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Well, what's wrong with Arkansas?
Speaker 5 (21:26):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
We just got it. We got to get to know them.
I guess we don't have any connections there. Got to
figure it out.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
And this is the first time this has been done, Yes,
the first time, and I guess you're going to do
it again.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Yes, we absolutely want to do it again.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
We're really grateful for our partners at Region's Foundation, and
we definitely really enjoyed collaborating.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
So we plan to do it again next year.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
And Anna, I'm hoping that the intent is for this
stuff that's being developed, that some of the good that
comes to it stays right here in our local area
in the southeast or maybe even in Alabama.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Yeah, I was gonna say, because if there's a real
problem I think with brain drain, where we have a
lot of great people who come out of Alabama, they
try and do something, but they get more traction elsewhere
and they leave us and they go to California or
to New York, and out goes the money that would
have otherwise followed them. If we can keep those people
here doing those things, because I think our state is
a great place for innovation, There's a lot of space,
(22:17):
there's a lot of people who can help out, and
that's why it's great that you're doing something like this
to keep that money here, those ideas right here. What
do you see on the horizon for you said this
the inaugural one, So what do you see on the
horizon for future down the road next year.
Speaker 4 (22:30):
Yeah, well, I think we're really excited about it. I
think now that we have the first year down, we're
able to extend the recruiting timeline and spread the word further.
And I think our founders had a really good experience
with this year or so we're excited that we'll be
able to sort of build out the offerings. So in
the future, we'd love to do a little bit more
hands on, like founder coaching and stuff like that to
(22:51):
just really augment the resources that we're able to offer
them over the course of this experience.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Listening to Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Networks, John
Mounson speaking with Anatopping from Tech Birmingham, And there's been
a lot of things said over the last I would
say eighteen months. I mean it's been around long with that,
but over the last eighteen months about AI and the
innova in the role that innovation AI has in innovation,
and how many of these people who submitted this year
(23:18):
are doing something with AI, either directly with or they're
using it to help them.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
Yeah, I honestly, i'd have to look into it specifically,
but if I had a guess, I would say at
least have probably I've I know there were one or
two that were maybe focused solely on like hey, this
is an AI based platform, but I think like because
it's such, you know, it's getting integrated more and more
into technology, there might be some that have a focus
(23:43):
on something else, but there is like technology Incorporated utilizing
AI that helps them advance what they're able to do further.
So I mean it is really touching everything. But different
companies have different, you know, levels of focus.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
I'm sure Wink Therapeutics would be happy to use it
because I've seen a lot of things or AI can
do things in a medical space that could be done
by hand but it would take forever, but a computer
can do it a lot faster when it comes to
things on an individual cellular or even like like inside
the cell level, and so that's a it's be a
great area for them to explore. And I guess with
fifty thousand dollars on the line every year, there's gonna
(24:18):
be a lot of people interested in this. Do you
have any hints, I guess for people who might be
submitting for next year, what are you looking for?
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Yeah, well, I think so We have a couple.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
I guess the judging criteria that we call our you know,
our application criteria when people are applying, So I would say,
like always focused on tailoring your your application information toward that.
I think we have five and it's what they end
up being judged on during their pitch. I think it's investability, goodness, like,
you know, how their technology is impacting the world's team,
(24:53):
so who are the people working on this project? And
then I'm forgetting the other two, but you know, sort
of the core tenants you would see in things that
people are investors and just you know, community leaders that are
going to want to see out of a promising startup.
We do include the goodness because we see, you know,
an important aspect of the technology that's being developed as
(25:13):
an opportunity to contribute to our society and well being
and whatever that looks like for the particular start up.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
So if somebody is making a doomsday device, don't bring
it in.
Speaker 4 (25:23):
Yeah, we'd be interested to see the spin on that
for sure. But it's very cool to be able to
get to serve as a platform for you know, companies
like Wink Therapeutics and other companies that are part of.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
This, Well, this is a fantastic thing. And again I'm
congratulations on doing something that's going to help not only Alabama,
not only the world, but also the individual companies. Maybe
they'll even make a little money off this thing, but
by the time it's all said.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
And done, absolutely, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
And topping with tech Birmingham, thank you so much for
coming in.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
And this is Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network.
I wanted to briefly update you on a situation that
happened in Homewood, Alabama. Joining me now to talk about
this is State Representative Wandling Gavan. She helped write legislation
in Alabama to call for the release of police cam
video when incidents happened like what happened in the park
(26:11):
in Homewood with the shooting of Jabari Peoples. We know
that there are a lot of groups calling for release
of the footage from that shooting and now that's been
turned over to Aliyah. Aliyah has not allowed that to happen.
Speaker 5 (26:23):
This situation.
Speaker 6 (26:24):
Unfortunately, a lot of municipalities don't know the real processes
any longer or not as up on the law. So
here we are today Homewood and an unfortunate situation. Bodycam
promised to the family, and then all of a sudden
a decision was made to not allow the family to
see it. But Aliah, the Alabama law enforcement say agency
(26:48):
to do the investigation. Once you turn it over to them,
it's their investigation. Should the family by now have seen it?
If it were a clean shot, it should not now
be three weeks we wan we.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
Talk about showing footage. We're talking about to the family.
There's a difference between releasing it for the mass releasing
it for social media because so often these scenes get
blown out of proportion because we take two seconds of
the video absolutely over and over.
Speaker 5 (27:12):
And that is the argument of law enforcement.
Speaker 6 (27:14):
But also with that being said, not everybody, not people
think this is a black issue.
Speaker 5 (27:19):
All Democrats won't by the cam shown. That's not true.
Speaker 6 (27:23):
The thing was to get a process for which the
family could see at least the.
Speaker 5 (27:28):
Bare minimum to know what happened.
Speaker 6 (27:31):
Then we wouldn't have the possibilities of protests. I'm asking
Aliah to speak this investigation up, but do it with
accuracy and a level of intensity that they send the
part the recording and all of their findings in investigatory
report to the district Attorney.
Speaker 5 (27:48):
We don't know what is on the video. We have
not seen it, and I certainly have not.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
It's very possible in this situation that the officer did
everything according to his training. He did everything right. And
it's also very possible that this young man who lost
his life, that he's not a bad person out to
do bad things. He was just. He was just. He
might have made a critical error, and both he could
be a good both could be good people, and we
could have no culprits in this. But regardless, we do
(28:16):
have a death, and that's what we need to investigate,
get to the bottom of it, because when it's all
said and down, we want to learn from this. We
don't want more death. We don't want more death of officers,
and we don't want more death of young people in
the community. Both could be true.
Speaker 6 (28:30):
I think John, your points are excellent. We're not here
to stand as a just durer or executioner.
Speaker 5 (28:36):
That's not my role. I am not the attorney on this.
I'm a lawmaker.
Speaker 6 (28:40):
But at the end of the day, the family should
have been allowed at best to come in to see
it by now and once that determination is made or
has been made, and they have seen it and then
it is.
Speaker 5 (28:53):
Released to the public.
Speaker 6 (28:55):
I believe in the judicial system, and I believe we
have a bifurcated system of law for a reason.
Speaker 5 (29:01):
That is your legislative, executive and judicial.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
So I thank you, thank you Wanglan for coming in
to talk about this. You're making a lot of sense
and I really appreciate your perspective on this situation. And again,
our heart still goes out to the family of Jewi
people's and also the officer who pulled the trigger, because
this affects them as well, and.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
It doesn't it's as we close.
Speaker 6 (29:22):
I do offer and I have said this day one,
as to extend condolences to this family.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Indeed, and thank you so much for being willing to
have this conversation. Waldlin, thank you for allowing this conversation.
My name's John Mounch and this is Viewpoint Alabama on
the Alabama Radio Network. You've been listening to Viewpoint Alabama,
a public affairs program from the Alabama Radio Network. The
opinions expressed on Viewpoint Alabama are not necessarily those of
the staff, management, or advertisers of this station.
A new leader, but the mission remains the same. Hello,
I'm John Mounch and this is Viewpoint Alabama on the
Alabama Radio Network. George Williams of Baldwin County has recently
been announced to be the next chairman for the Alabama
Minority GOP. He joins me now, George walk in the Viewpoint.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Thank you glad to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
I'm glad to have you on. In the state of Alabama,
the Republican Party seems to hold all the cards in
many parts of the state, but there's certain pockets, mostly
in the majority the metropolitan areas and in the Black Belt,
with GOP, the message doesn't seem to resonate. Why do
you think that is.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
I think it's because of the propaganda really of the Democrats, Okay,
and there are some other factors also that if you
live in those neighborhoods, you can't put the Republican signs
on your lawn or on your property, and there's a
little fear. It's called the fear factor.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
I one time heard this referred to as the crabs
in a bucket analogy, where there are crabs stuck in
a bucket, and if one of the crabs attempts to
try and grasp the edge of the bucket and pull
itself out. The other crabs inside of the bucket will
grab it and pull it back down. It doesn't want
the crabs don't want the other crab to succeed. In
much the same way, these people who are in this
state of misery, they don't want anyone to be able
(01:20):
to pull themselves out. And so you run the risk
of running a foul of your neighbors if you try
and do something different, if you try and actually pull
yourself out of the mess, you're in invoting your own
best interest.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Correct, correct, And even me, you know, sometimes I received
threats being a black man and a Republican. You know,
they come up and say, hey, you know, why are
you doing that? You're racist? And so there is a
little flow of factor. But that doesn't bother me.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
And that seems so ironic because if you look back
into the sixties, when it was Democrats who were intimidating
black people to get them to vote a certain way,
not to go to certain places because they wanted to
control you. And here we fast forward fifty or sixty
years later, and once again you have Democrats who are
trying to control a certain population, the black population, to
(02:18):
say that you must vote this way. You should all
line up and do the same thing, because we all
need to be behind a certain agenda. Heaven forbid people
have a mind of their own or think for themselves.
And I guess you were able to buck the trend.
But it wasn't easy, that's correct.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
And I remember my parents, grandparents, who are everybody was
you know, was born here in Alabama, and I was
born in Alabama before I was ten, and we laughed,
and we went to New Jersey, my mother, father and
their eight children. And it used to be that way.
We were all Republicans then, okay, and thanks changed since
(03:00):
the nineteen sixty four of the Civil Rights Bill that
changed everything for black folks.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
And with the passing of the Civil Rights legislation, I
guess the Democrat Party said we are going to own this.
This is ours, and because we own this legislation, we
also own you, so to speak. We own you, we
own your votes. We're going to take that from now
on out, and we're going to be in charge of
your votes. We will do whatever we say, this is
(03:28):
what's right for you. Even though many of the policies,
especially when you look at many of the policies, the
Democrat policies of like the Great Society in LBJ. Many
of these policies were actually antithetical to what is right,
what is the best thing for the black community. But
yet because they're Democrats, everyone just kind of went along
with it.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
That's true. And during the Civil Rights Bill, you know,
President Johnson decided, you know, they're not for their enough.
But it was a Senator, it would Irkson and Congressman
Gerald Ford who later on became President Ford who sponsored
(04:06):
those bills. So Johnson didn't have to call Republicans to
get them to support the bill. He had to call
Democrat the Dixiecrats, you know, Strong Sturmit and all those guys.
And so as a result of that Civil Rights Bill
being passed, uh, you know, you had the NAACP, you know,
(04:29):
try and convince the black voters that it was a
Democrats who did that, and it was not. It was
a Republicans. And subsequently the Democrats became surrogates for the Uh,
I'm sorry, the NAACP became surrogates for the Democratic Party,
which is where they are today.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
George Williams, the new the new chairman of the Alabama
Minority GOP, is joining us on Viewpoint Alabama. George, I'd
like to talk with you about the redistricting because it
has changed the political landscape a little bit in South Alabama.
First of all, do you think the redistricting was necessary
for there? Because they referred to it as a majority
minority district and then they referred to the one in
(05:09):
South Alabama as a majority I believe they said a
minority opportunity district. Do you think that redistricting was necessary
or do you think that the South Alabama could have
had good representation without the redistricting.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Well, I think it was not necessary. I think we
had really good representation, and I think it was something
that was done in spite by the Democratic Party along
with the Southern Probably Law Center. Okay, so, and it's
still in court. It's still in court, and hopefully it
(05:43):
would be it will be overruled because if you look
at the person who was elected, Samario figures, he's one
of the ones who voted against the bill to keep
boys and men's out of women's sports. I mean, this
is unbelievable, and so they need to make that change.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
It seems to me, a lot of the legislation proposed
by Shamari figures not only is well it's in lockstep
with the rest of the Democratic Party, but it's also
probably even a little bit further left than Terry Seol
because it is very it doesn't seem like it represents
the state of Alabama. Well, rather it represents the objectives
(06:25):
of the Democratic Party, and I think it feels like
it just feels like he's even further left than Terry Seoll.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Well, Terry school she also voted against it, So to me,
they're running side by side with the Democratic Party.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
George, do you think it's possible the second district could
be swung back into play for the Republican Party or
at this point the only thing that would bring it
out of Democrat control is to undo the redistricting. Do
you think there's actually a chance that the state could
actually overcome that on its own.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Well, whichever way, I think it's going to come back
into the of the Republican Party because some of the
their votes in the Congress is unbelievable. It's not with
what the citizens of Alabama want in that district, and
so they're la puppets for the Democratic Party, and you
(07:20):
see all over the United States this is happening.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
You're listening to Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network.
My name is John mountsin and speaking with the newly
elected GOP Minority Chair George Williams. George, let's turn our
attention to the gubernatorial election coming up. As you know,
Kivy is term restrict issues, not running again, and there
are a lot of people who have thrown their hats
into the ring. Do you want to offer a prediction
(07:45):
who you think will be the winner and who you
would like to be the winner of the governor seat.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
I think it's going to be the coach. And you know,
I really got to know him doing the convention Republican
Convention in Cleveland, and I think he is good. He's
going to be good for Alabama. The most important, one
(08:13):
of the most important elements is guts, and to fight
the Democrats and get this country and state and whatever
back together, you need a person with guts, okay, and
he's got that and he stands on this principle. So
I would like for him to be the governor of Alabama.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
And if your predictions are correct, and we do see
Senator Tuberville move to the Governor's mansion. Now we have
his open Senate seat, and I know there's a lot
of people who are throwing their hat in for that
race as well and this race. It's interesting because we're
going to have a situation where Alabama's senior senator is
actually going to be Katie Britt, Because our junior senator
(08:56):
will be the next person to replace Tommy Tubberville in
the Senate race, will draw a lot of attention nationally.
Who do you think is the best fit for this office.
We've had some senators in the past that have not
been maybe the best for the state of Alabama, and
we've had some really great ones, like Senator Shelby, who
brought home a lot of what brought home the bacon
(09:17):
half the stuff in Birmingham is called the Shelby Biomedical Building.
To Shelby, this the Shelby that what do we what
do you think in terms of who are our next
senator to replace Tupperville will be?
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Well, first of all, I don't really think it matters.
You see what happened with with Jeff Sessions and uh
and our other senior citizens, and then Katie Burrett and
the coach Taberville took over. You know, the Senate only
has each senator only has one vote. Okay, So to me,
(09:48):
it doesn't matter that much. Uh, you know, whoever takes
it over, I like, you know, both of them and
h so whomever take over from Tubberville. Uh, you know,
he's one vote for the for the for the stake
(10:09):
for Alabama. So I don't think that really matters that much.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Other than the fact that we could see external My
concern is we could see external money flow into the race,
as we saw in the previous election for that seat
back when we ended up with Doug Jones in the position,
and I almost blew my mind. We had a Democrat
back in representing Alabama in the Senate. The last time
we saw that was when haw Hefflin was there. So
(10:34):
it was incredible to see what outside money can do
in terms of swinging the election. Well, I guess outside
money combined with the ineptitude of Roy Moore. But Roy Moore,
you know, he didn't deserve what he got. And you
noticed that a lot of the accusers that kept him
out of office magically just sort of disappeared after Doug
Jones won.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Doug Jones was the Democrat and to me it was
it was a zero and his time was limited. But
when you have a senator who's been elected and we
know that senator is going to be there for six years,
to me, it's psychologically different, okay, because they have to
(11:17):
you know, make deals with between themselves and we'll get money.
I mean, predent Trump loves Alabama. I can tell you that, okay,
and he's going to make sure that Alabama gets they're
necessary funding. So I don't have a problem with that.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
George, as your role is the chairman of the Alabama
Minority GOP, what sort of things do we expect to
see from you? What kind of initiatives are you going
to champion.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
We're going to be doing a lot of outreach to
try and convince, you know, black voters that they should
get off of that sinking ship the USS Democrat and
they're not listen to the n w p CP and
you know those Democrats in Washington, because we should not
(12:11):
put all of our eggs in one basket, which is
what the Democrat Party and the Democratic politicians want us
to do. As black folks. Okay, we all have a
better chance if we you know, very our selections when
(12:31):
we vote. So you know, we're in a loser, loser
position because if you look at the United States and
how it is now right now, black folks are at
the bottom of the totem pole. Okay, the Equal Rights Bill,
civil Rights Bill. Really after that we started going downhill.
(12:54):
We started going downhill. So I think what we have
to do is start. And when when I was with
Governor Riley and Governor Bentley, we used to set up
meetings in the black community with the black preachers and
the black ministers and black pastors to convince the black voters.
But you have you had Jesse Jackson out there and
(13:17):
Al Sharpton and uh and a lot of those guys,
and they were convincing the black folks that the Democratic
Party was the way to go, which it is not
the way to go. And we all know that and
we see it every day. So we go and talk outreach.
It's most important for us.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
George. An interesting political shift we've seen recently is that
of the younger voters, because there are a lot of
younger voters who put Donald Trump in offices last time around.
Of course, it's important to be able to reach the
older voters and you seem like you're definitely going to
be able to reach out to a lot of African
American older voters to bring them back into the Republican
Party if they're not already there. But what about younger voters.
(13:58):
Do you see this as a possible ground that it
might be even more fertile for you to bring some
of these younger African Americans into the Republican Party, to
bring them in and get them voting as Republicans.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Well, we are already doing that in Alabama, just like
in the rest of America. When they voted for Trump.
Governor Riley had a very large black vote. Governor Bentley
had a very large Black vote. And right now, when
I talk to young young blacks, and I'm talking about
(14:30):
from eighteen eighteen to forty five, I'm telling you they
are Republicans. A lot of them don't like to come
out and say that, but they tell me that they
are Republicans, but they don't want other people to know that.
And so it's all about outreach. And our churches are
(14:52):
very important because when I grew up and even during
the slave thy days and following that, the churches played
a key row. When Maud Luther King started in the fifties.
He didn't fall under the umbrella, he didn't proceed under
the umbrella of the NAACP. He created his own group,
(15:15):
the SCLC Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Okay, And I think
that is most important for people to know and don't
listen to the NAACP folks because they are surrogates for
the Democratic Party. And I talk to them a lot
(15:37):
and try to convince those folks and the NAACP and
the older folks, Look, what are you guys doing. What
are you Why are you pursuing this? You're hurting your
people in the for the future. So we are concentrating
on the younger generations.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
George Williams, the new chairman of the Alabama Minority GOP.
Thank you so much for joining me this week on
Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
All right, thank you, and I'll be back again if
you want me to.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
George, we always have an open invitation for you here
at Viewpoint Alabama. My name is John Mount and this
is the Alabama Radio Network. And there's an organization not
far from the studios we're in right now called Innovate Birmingham,
and they have a contest that's designed to award some
people with great innovative ideas. Joining me now is Anna topic. Anna,
welcome to Viewpoint.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Thank you so much, glad to be here.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
There is a program that you guys have you're going
to or you're offering fifty thousand dollars of a grand
prize in the inaugural sloss Tech Idea Southeast Pitch Competition.
Explain what this is, why it was, why you came
up with it, and how it works.
Speaker 4 (16:44):
We partnered with the Regions Foundation who made this pitch
competition possible, so they actually approached us saying, hey, we'd
love to see a pitch competition on slass Tech platform
and be able to bring founders both from Alabama and
the rest of the Southeast here and you know, of
course provide funding so that the winners can come away
(17:04):
with some sort of cash prize to invest in.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Their business as well as the on site opportunities.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
So it was a really big deal for us to
be able to do that as part of Sauce Tech,
which we see as a platform already lifting up founders
and entrepreneurs and everyone around technology in the state.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
But to be able to.
Speaker 4 (17:24):
Bring that in and not only have founders from Alabama,
but also other founders from the Southeast all converge here
in Birmingham and both compete for cash prizes, but also
get connected with potential funders and potential customers and also
just you know, peers that they can learn from in
their entrepreneurial journeys.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
So it's just sort of like a shark tank shark
tank kind of thing where if somebody comes in there
with a big idea, but they need a little bit
of in cash infusion to sort of make it happen.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
So a little bit.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
So these are established businesses, but they're very early stage.
So it's focused on early stage companies that are existing
currently and working on their products that are tech and
tech adjacent. Then from there it's like we see this
as an opportunity to help them accelerate their business both
through yes, the cash prizes, but also the support we're
(18:14):
able to offer as part of the experience.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
And I'm sure the support is important because there's networking involved.
Nobody can do something all by themselves. Very rarely does
anyone do something all by themselves. They need help, and
sometimes not just you know, their mom and dad or
the next door neighbor but people who are also in
the industry more established, have those connections to sort of say, hey,
I know exactly what you need. I know a guy
who's in metallurgy, or I know a person who handles distribution, whatever.
(18:37):
This is a way for you to connect them.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
Yeah, So before they even get to the event, we
were able to offer, you know, some pitch workshops to
help them with their pitch that they'll be doing on
stage and connect them with some on the ground entrepreneurs
to review their pitch decks and to connect with them
to support them.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
So what are some of the types of businesses that
you see? Are these all tech specific or some of
them just startups that are more service oriented or web based,
all the above.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Yeah, So it's.
Speaker 4 (19:04):
All under the broad umbrella of tech. But we did
actually have four industry tracks this year which we're focused
on four of the industry priorities that an economic development
report from about Alabama had come from.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
So we actually had agriculture.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
And food technologies as one, health tech and biotech as
a second, emerging technologies as a third, which was sort
of a catch all just under the umbrella of tech,
and then the fourth was mobility and transportation technology. So
all the companies that applied applied for one of those
four and we were able to select four companies from
(19:41):
each category that are developing innovations underneath those focuses.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
This is Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network. My
name is John Mountain speaking with Antatopic Geesworth Tech, Birmingham,
and we're talking about this program. Did this last tech thing?
Is it something that just happened or is about to happen?
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Yes, it just happened at the end of June.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
So the so you had a winner, yes, we did.
Who who was the big winner?
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Yeah, So we actually had our Our grand prize winner
was Wink Therapeutics. They are a startup that's focused on
a solving type one diabetes with an innovation around precision
targeting using RNA. You know, that's a little beyond my understanding,
but it's very cool and very technical acid that's all
(20:27):
I yes, exactly. But so they were the grand prize
winner and we're really excited for them, and we also
had a people's Choice and then each of the categories
had a winner, but Wink Therapeutics walked away with the
fifty thousand dollars that was the grand.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Price, and that money goes right back into their work
to continue developing what they're working on.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Yes, so it's not it's not just like a take
it and go on vacation. Is take it and go
back to work exactly.
Speaker 4 (20:50):
Yeah, it can be used basically to develop you know,
their business and what they're doing. It doesn't can't go
toward operational expenses, but anything else is fair game, and
we do. You know, we'll do an impact report around
six months to see how the funding was able.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
To help them.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
How many people submitted for this, Yeah, we had a
little over one hundred I think it was like one
hundred and seven applications for sixteen spots in all Alabama
businesses all across the southeast.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
So we actually had most of them most I would
say about half the applicants for Alabama. But we had
I think every Southeast state except for Arkansas represented in
our applications.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Well, what's wrong with Arkansas?
Speaker 5 (21:26):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
We just got it. We got to get to know them.
I guess we don't have any connections there. Got to
figure it out.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
And this is the first time this has been done, Yes,
the first time, and I guess you're going to do
it again.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Yes, we absolutely want to do it again.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
We're really grateful for our partners at Region's Foundation, and
we definitely really enjoyed collaborating.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
So we plan to do it again next year.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
And Anna, I'm hoping that the intent is for this
stuff that's being developed, that some of the good that
comes to it stays right here in our local area
in the southeast or maybe even in Alabama.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Yeah, I was gonna say, because if there's a real
problem I think with brain drain, where we have a
lot of great people who come out of Alabama, they
try and do something, but they get more traction elsewhere
and they leave us and they go to California or
to New York, and out goes the money that would
have otherwise followed them. If we can keep those people
here doing those things, because I think our state is
a great place for innovation, There's a lot of space,
(22:17):
there's a lot of people who can help out, and
that's why it's great that you're doing something like this
to keep that money here, those ideas right here. What
do you see on the horizon for you said this
the inaugural one, So what do you see on the
horizon for future down the road next year.
Speaker 4 (22:30):
Yeah, well, I think we're really excited about it. I
think now that we have the first year down, we're
able to extend the recruiting timeline and spread the word further.
And I think our founders had a really good experience
with this year or so we're excited that we'll be
able to sort of build out the offerings. So in
the future, we'd love to do a little bit more
hands on, like founder coaching and stuff like that to
(22:51):
just really augment the resources that we're able to offer
them over the course of this experience.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Listening to Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Networks, John
Mounson speaking with Anatopping from Tech Birmingham, And there's been
a lot of things said over the last I would
say eighteen months. I mean it's been around long with that,
but over the last eighteen months about AI and the
innova in the role that innovation AI has in innovation,
and how many of these people who submitted this year
(23:18):
are doing something with AI, either directly with or they're
using it to help them.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
Yeah, I honestly, i'd have to look into it specifically,
but if I had a guess, I would say at
least have probably I've I know there were one or
two that were maybe focused solely on like hey, this
is an AI based platform, but I think like because
it's such, you know, it's getting integrated more and more
into technology, there might be some that have a focus
(23:43):
on something else, but there is like technology Incorporated utilizing
AI that helps them advance what they're able to do further.
So I mean it is really touching everything. But different
companies have different, you know, levels of focus.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
I'm sure Wink Therapeutics would be happy to use it
because I've seen a lot of things or AI can
do things in a medical space that could be done
by hand but it would take forever, but a computer
can do it a lot faster when it comes to
things on an individual cellular or even like like inside
the cell level, and so that's a it's be a
great area for them to explore. And I guess with
fifty thousand dollars on the line every year, there's gonna
(24:18):
be a lot of people interested in this. Do you
have any hints, I guess for people who might be
submitting for next year, what are you looking for?
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Yeah, well, I think so We have a couple.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
I guess the judging criteria that we call our you know,
our application criteria when people are applying, So I would say,
like always focused on tailoring your your application information toward that.
I think we have five and it's what they end
up being judged on during their pitch. I think it's investability, goodness, like,
you know, how their technology is impacting the world's team,
(24:53):
so who are the people working on this project? And
then I'm forgetting the other two, but you know, sort
of the core tenants you would see in things that
people are investors and just you know, community leaders that are
going to want to see out of a promising startup.
We do include the goodness because we see, you know,
an important aspect of the technology that's being developed as
(25:13):
an opportunity to contribute to our society and well being
and whatever that looks like for the particular start up.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
So if somebody is making a doomsday device, don't bring
it in.
Speaker 4 (25:23):
Yeah, we'd be interested to see the spin on that
for sure. But it's very cool to be able to
get to serve as a platform for you know, companies
like Wink Therapeutics and other companies that are part of.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
This, Well, this is a fantastic thing. And again I'm
congratulations on doing something that's going to help not only Alabama,
not only the world, but also the individual companies. Maybe
they'll even make a little money off this thing, but
by the time it's all said.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
And done, absolutely, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
And topping with tech Birmingham, thank you so much for
coming in.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
And this is Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network.
I wanted to briefly update you on a situation that
happened in Homewood, Alabama. Joining me now to talk about
this is State Representative Wandling Gavan. She helped write legislation
in Alabama to call for the release of police cam
video when incidents happened like what happened in the park
(26:11):
in Homewood with the shooting of Jabari Peoples. We know
that there are a lot of groups calling for release
of the footage from that shooting and now that's been
turned over to Aliyah. Aliyah has not allowed that to happen.
Speaker 5 (26:23):
This situation.
Speaker 6 (26:24):
Unfortunately, a lot of municipalities don't know the real processes
any longer or not as up on the law. So
here we are today Homewood and an unfortunate situation. Bodycam
promised to the family, and then all of a sudden
a decision was made to not allow the family to
see it. But Aliah, the Alabama law enforcement say agency
(26:48):
to do the investigation. Once you turn it over to them,
it's their investigation. Should the family by now have seen it?
If it were a clean shot, it should not now
be three weeks we wan we.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
Talk about showing footage. We're talking about to the family.
There's a difference between releasing it for the mass releasing
it for social media because so often these scenes get
blown out of proportion because we take two seconds of
the video absolutely over and over.
Speaker 5 (27:12):
And that is the argument of law enforcement.
Speaker 6 (27:14):
But also with that being said, not everybody, not people
think this is a black issue.
Speaker 5 (27:19):
All Democrats won't by the cam shown. That's not true.
Speaker 6 (27:23):
The thing was to get a process for which the
family could see at least the.
Speaker 5 (27:28):
Bare minimum to know what happened.
Speaker 6 (27:31):
Then we wouldn't have the possibilities of protests. I'm asking
Aliah to speak this investigation up, but do it with
accuracy and a level of intensity that they send the
part the recording and all of their findings in investigatory
report to the district Attorney.
Speaker 5 (27:48):
We don't know what is on the video. We have
not seen it, and I certainly have not.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
It's very possible in this situation that the officer did
everything according to his training. He did everything right. And
it's also very possible that this young man who lost
his life, that he's not a bad person out to
do bad things. He was just. He was just. He
might have made a critical error, and both he could
be a good both could be good people, and we
could have no culprits in this. But regardless, we do
(28:16):
have a death, and that's what we need to investigate,
get to the bottom of it, because when it's all
said and down, we want to learn from this. We
don't want more death. We don't want more death of officers,
and we don't want more death of young people in
the community. Both could be true.
Speaker 6 (28:30):
I think John, your points are excellent. We're not here
to stand as a just durer or executioner.
Speaker 5 (28:36):
That's not my role. I am not the attorney on this.
I'm a lawmaker.
Speaker 6 (28:40):
But at the end of the day, the family should
have been allowed at best to come in to see
it by now and once that determination is made or
has been made, and they have seen it and then
it is.
Speaker 5 (28:53):
Released to the public.
Speaker 6 (28:55):
I believe in the judicial system, and I believe we
have a bifurcated system of law for a reason.
Speaker 5 (29:01):
That is your legislative, executive and judicial.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
So I thank you, thank you Wanglan for coming in
to talk about this. You're making a lot of sense
and I really appreciate your perspective on this situation. And again,
our heart still goes out to the family of Jewi
people's and also the officer who pulled the trigger, because
this affects them as well, and.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
It doesn't it's as we close.
Speaker 6 (29:22):
I do offer and I have said this day one,
as to extend condolences to this family.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Indeed, and thank you so much for being willing to
have this conversation. Waldlin, thank you for allowing this conversation.
My name's John Mounch and this is Viewpoint Alabama on
the Alabama Radio Network. You've been listening to Viewpoint Alabama,
a public affairs program from the Alabama Radio Network. The
opinions expressed on Viewpoint Alabama are not necessarily those of
the staff, management, or advertisers of this station.
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