Russell Simmons appeared on Hot 97's Ebro in the Morning Thursday to discuss the national racial climate in light of the recent Charleston murders. The mogul had harsh words for NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio when the subject turned to police brutality.
“There’s a few things that you can do, that are action-based," he said of methods to curb police brutality. "One is to get special prosecutors, separate from the police department. That’s critical... [Now] we have so many of these shootings on camera, but [police] have been getting away with murdering black people forever. Our police commissioner is bullying our punk mayor – that we worked so hard to put in office."
Simmons supported de Blasio during his mayoral campaign and told Ebro that he has failed to deliver on his private pledge to Simmons that he would appoint special prosecutors in instances of police brutality. “Look at what [officers who protested at the NYPD funeral] did to the mayor,” Simmons said. “They just made him into a – can y’all say 'bitch?'”
Mayor de Blasio is married to black artist Charlene McCray. They have two children together.
"He knows his kids are at risk," Simmons told Ebro. "He knows that if a cop shoots his kid, and there is no footage, that cop is not getting charged.”
[via XXL]
