Jesse Jackson: Baltimore Police Came as ‘Occupying Force, Not as Neighbors’

Jesse Jackson: Baltimore Police Came as ‘Occupying Force, Not as Neighbors’ (Mediaite)

Reverend Jesse Jackson was on Democracy Now! earlier today talking about the rioting in Baltimore. Jackson spoke at the funeral forFreddie Gray, whose death in police custodytriggered angry protests and some pretty violent clashes over the past few days.

Amy Goodman asked Jackson about Maryland Governor Larry Hogan scolding “lawless gangs of thugs” causing chaos all over the city. Jackson called that kind of language unhelpful and brought up “bankers who engaged in subprime and predatory lending and took people’s homes and drove them out of the middle class into poverty.” He said there’s a pretty clear racial and economic divide that needs to be addressed in Baltimore.