Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) is standing by her call on protesters to get more “confrontational.”
She told CNN’s Manu Raju, “The whole Civil Rights movement is confrontation.”
During a protest over the weekend in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, Waters said, “We’ve got to stay on the street and we’ve got to get more active, we’ve got to get more confrontational. We’ve got to make sure that they know that we mean business.”
Her comments came amid the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin and a week after the police shooting of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man.
Chauvin has been charged with murder and manslaughter for his role in the death of George Floyd. He has pleaded not guilty.
Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill, who is presiding over the Chauvin trial, weighed in on Waters’ comments.
“I will give you that Congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned,” Cahill said.
When asked about his comments, Waters said, “The judge says my words don’t matter.” Raju then pressed her on Cahill’s suggestion her remarks could be grounds for appeal.
“Oh no, no they didn’t,” she said.
Waters stood by the use of the word “confrontational,” saying: “The whole Civil Rights movement is confrontation.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) April 19, 2021
During an interview on the “Today” show Tuesday, Philonise Floyd, brother of George Floyd, shared his thoughts on the potential for violence if protesters disagree with the verdict in the trial.
“I just want everybody to understand that it has never been anything like this in life. This has been a motion cinema picture everybody watched around the world. We just want everybody to be peaceful, but at the same time, I can’t stop people from doing the things that they are doing,” Philonise Floyd said.
He added, “People are in pain, they are hurt.”
Watch the video below:
“We just want everybody to be peaceful.”
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) April 20, 2021
Philonise Floyd, brother of George Floyd, and attorney Benjamin Crump speak with @craigmelvin as the country awaits a verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin. pic.twitter.com/TGEswuhHxE
Attorney Benjamin Crump was asked about Cahill’s rebuke of Waters’ comments.
“I thought it was the defense’s desperate attempt to distract us further,” Crump said.
He continued, “It’s only when a Black person is killed by police that we come up with all these distractions … to say, ‘Oh, we want to give every opportunity for the officer to be exonerated and that’s why the whole world is on edge.”