Portland police officer Jakhary Jackson called out violent protesters during a press conference yesterday, saying many of the people protesting don’t know what they’re doing and don’t know the history of civil rights movements in this country.
“I got to see folks that really do want change like the rest of us that have been impacted by racism,” Jackson said of peaceful protesters. “And then I got to see those people get faded out by people that have no idea what racism is all about. Never experienced racism.”
“They don’t even know that the tactics that they are using are the same tactics that were used against my people and they don’t even know the history. They don’t know what they’re saying.”
“Coming from someone who graduated from PSU with a history degree, it’s actually frightening,” he added.
Jackson spoke of antagonists who are using protests to divide the country.
“I’m cool with people feeling like they want to help a movement, but then when you go to a gentrified community and one of the first pictures I saw of one of the businesses looted was a black-owned business. I’m like ‘They’re not even from here.They don’t even know what they’re even doing.’ It’s divisive.”
Jackson also spoke about other African-Americans who no longer recognize the movement they believe is an important one, and were once a part of.
“I actually had a cousin who went to one of the marches and he left and he said, ‘This has turned into something else. This is weird,'” he said.
“So having an African-American male marching and then leaving…like I said, it’s been very eye opening.”