March 23rd, 2012

Florida rep. on Trayvon Martin case: ‘We’re not trying to make it racial. It is racial’

Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) talks about the Trayvon Martin case on Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien.

Wilson says, “It’s racial profiling. This isn’t something that someone is pulling out of a hat. It happens all the time. It is happening as we speak. Racial profiling happens in our nation, in our state of Florida…. It happens every day. We’re not trying to make it racial. It is racial.”

On the potential public reaction if shooter George Zimmerman isn’t convicted, she adds, “Well, I am afraid to even think. I don’t want to think back to the ’60s when people burned down cities. So, as we move around and we talk with people who are participating in rallies, we’ve got to prepare them as they move through this process as to what the outcome might be. There is no way I can see a grand jury not indicting this man. However, it’s my understanding the grand jury is all white. I think that needs to be changed first of all. I think it should be a jury of his peers, someone who looks like him or looks like his family members, his mother or father. And I think that the energy — we’ll have to find a way to transform this energy in making this a better country for little black boys. We’ve got to all become mentors.”

On the police chief stepping down, she continues, “That’s an insult for him to say that he’s temporarily removing himself. He needs to be fired. He needs to be removed. That’s a temporary situation. He’s still being paid. He probably still is a part of the investigation. He needs to be terminated. And those people in authority who refuse to terminate him, perhaps they need to be terminated. That’s the only way justice is going to be served.”

Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien airs weekday mornings from 7-9am ET on CNN.