CNN "Erin Burnett Outfront" - Transcript: Interview with Joyce Beatty
Interview
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
REP. JOYCE BEATTY (D-OH): Well, I think we have to be in a better position to say that we should be saving all lives. We can't say that the lady in the pink would have been killed. Here's what I believe, you see in 11 seconds for shots and a teenager on the ground dead.
I think there has to be a better way. One size can't fit all. When I hear the police say that they are trained to go to the center of the body and to shoot, here is a situation where the police had been called. They knew they were coming into a situation with girls, a teenager and two women. We should have been in de-escalation mode. It should not be that the car pulls up, an officer gets out and then within 10 seconds.
Now, there was another lady that was already on the ground and Ma'Khia had the kitchen knife in her hand. I can't say that I know that her intentions were to kill this person. I think we should be saving all lives and I just think we have to have a better situation and especially as we were on the same day, the same hour, waiting for the verdict in the George Floyd's case.
I was there with that family grieving, had been with the family of Casey Goodson, the family with Andre Hill and all of us are saying enough is enough. We have to learn how to de-escalate. We have to have a better practice, policy and procedure that it is to go in and to put four bullets in a child's chest with a kitchen knife. I'm sorry. This is too hard, too emotional for me right now, to respond to, too many lives.
And right here in Columbus, Ohio, in my district, too many black Americans are dying. We have to come with a better ...
BOLDUAN: And your pain and anguish, quite frankly, is shared by - is being expressed by so many. I mean, we are hearing this over and over again and people are exhausted of it. And I'm wondering, you mentioned how many - this is happening too often even in your district. I mean, we look there have been four people shot to death by law enforcement in the last four months in Columbus. Do you have a problem with your police department in Columbus?
BEATTY: Well, let me just tell you, I think in Columbus, across this nation, whether it's Minneapolis, whether it is Texas, it doesn't - Chicago, it doesn't matter where it is, we have systemic racism. We have differences in how communities of color are treated, in my opinion.
And so I think we have to look at the system. I don't support a system of one size fits all. I don't support a system that you drive up and the automatic thing is to put four bullets in the chest of a 16-year- old. I don't support one size fit all. I think that it's appalling that we can have someone say our system is to train officers to go to the center of the body no matter what.
So if she had a water gun, if she had a sandwich, if she had keys, if she had a cell phone and it looks like she was going to hit or harm someone, the answer is four bullets, six bullets in the back, in the chest. That's not acceptable.
BOLDUAN: Congressman, thank you for coming on tonight. I appreciate it.
BOLDUAN: Thank you.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source