Hawk Newsome continually refused to answer Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum’s question about the morality of looting during a heated Tuesday evening segment on “The Story.”
Newsome, who chairs Black Lives Matter (BLM) of Greater New York, began the interview by firing back at former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani, who had criticized Black Lives Matter as a “domestic terrorist organization,” but quickly went off the rails when MacCallum played a clip of Chicago BLM organizer Ariel Atkins condoning looting as “reparations.”
“I don’t care if somebody decides to loot a Gucci or a Macy’s or a Nike because that makes sure that that person eats,” Atkins said last week. “That makes sure that that person has clothes. That’s reparations. That is reparations.”
“Do you agree with Ariel Atkins on that?” MacCallum asked.
“Well, so we are moving on past Rudy Giuliani and we’re moving into looting and a form of reparation,” Newsome responded. “Let’s be very careful and I’d appreciate if you let me speak. Let’s be very careful. The problem with oppression and white supremacy is, white supremacy will have you criticizing the oppressed and worshiping the oppressors. Now, if you want to talk to me about reparations, nothing falls short of a solution other than people cutting a check. If you want to do something about reparations, cut the check. And we’re not talking about going in every day Americans’ pockets, we are talking about banks … who benefited from slavery. Other insurance companies that sold insurance policies on …”
“I asked you a question, in fairness,” MacCallum pressed while Newsome continued to speak. “I listened to you and now I want you to answer my questions. Listen to me, sir. I asked you a question. Do you think …”
“I’m telling you,” he interrupted. “That’s what I’m telling you.”
“Do you think, do you agree that it’s okay to go in and break the windows at Gucci or Macy’s or Nike because it makes sure that person eats and that person has clothes?” the Fox News host asked again. “That was my question to you. Is that ethically okay to you? Is it?”
Newsome continued to evade the question by bringing up the police shooting of Breonna Taylor.
“Of course I don’t think that’s okay,” MacCallum said incredulously as Newsome continued to speak. “No, you don’t answer my question. I’m trying to have a conversation. No one thinks that’s okay. That’s why you have two-thirds of America who say they support Black Lives Matter because they don’t ever want to see police brutality in this country. But you are not answering my question, which is whether or not it’s okay to take away people’s livelihoods because you deserve the stuff that’s in the broken window, okay? There’s two different issues here, and I wish you had answered my question, which you said you would but you didn’t.”
MacCallum ended the interview when Newsome again avoided her question with another question of his own.
“You are having a circular conversation,” she said as the BLM leader kept talking. “You don’t want to answer questions about looting and stealing and breaking windows so, hopefully we can have another conversation …”
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