Baltimore Pastor Jamal Bryant, who delivered a eulogy for Freddie Gray, said Thursday that President Obama was guilty of “black-on-black crime” for calling the city’s rioters “thugs.”
Mr. Bryan told Fox’s Megyn Kelly that both Mr. Obama and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake committed “black-on-black crime” for referring to looters and arsonists as “thugs.”
“They have committed black on black crime by using that word against people who look just like them. Absolutely,” the Empowerment Temple AME Church pastor said.
Mr. Obama said during an April 28 White House press conference: “You’ve got some of the same organizers now going back into these communities to try to clean up in the aftermath after a handful of criminals and thugs who tore up the place.”
“I don’t know, I might be wrong, but I see Barack Obama, and he doesn’t strike me as a racist guy,” “The Kelly Factor” host said, Mediaite reported Thursday.
Ms. Rawlings-Blake later walked back her own “thugs” comment on Twitter, saying that the looters and rioters were instead “misguided young people who need to be held accountable, but need our support.”
Freddie Gray, 25, died of spinal injuries April 19 after an April 12 arrest conducted by the Baltimore Police Department. Six officers were suspended, and several investigations into Mr. Gray’s death are ongoing. The department’s report has been delivered to State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, but the exact cause of Mr. Gray’s injuries has not been released to the public.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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