CNN contributor and journalist Keith Boykin has taken to the airwaves to discuss his recent arrest at a Black Lives Matter protest. Police arrested Boykin while documenting the protest and was held for six hours without being charged.
Boykin joined Don Lemon on May 31 to discuss the ordeal, which saw him handcuffed with zip ties and packed in with a group of protestors in violation of COVID-19 distancing protocols.
“I was watching the Black Lives Matter protests going down the street was mostly almost entirely peaceful,” Boykin told Lemon. Boykin attended the protest on May 30 in New York City. “I was in front of the protesters with my camera so I could video and take photos. And the police came.”
“I said, ‘I’m with the press,’” Boykin continued. “They walked by me, but then they turned around and they arrested me anyway. I asked, ‘why am I being arrested?’ and they said, ‘well, you’re blocking the highway.'”
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“Now mind you, I wasn’t blocking the highway, because the police and the protesters were blocking the highway and I was in between the two of them. I was simply photographing what was taking place and documenting what was happening. They could have just said, ‘you need to move off the highway or you going to be arrested.’ They didn’t bother to do that. They just arrested me. The police have too much power.”
Boykin went on to describe how police handcuffed him and left him in a hot, crowded paddywagon before driving him to the police station. Officers held him in a cell with more than thirty other protestors before releasing him with a mere court summons for blocking the highway. In all, the ordeal took six hours.
“So often the police actually don’t de-escelate, but they make matters worse, and that’s what people are protesting about,” Boykin added. “That’s why they’re so upset about George Floyd right now. It saddens me there’s been a horrible week for everybody in America.”
Protests against the death of George Floyd, who died in police custody in Minneapolis, and against nationwide police brutality, continue.
Cam
Police can arrest anybody for anything, yet we had to have nationwide protests to FORCE them to arrest ONE of the cops who participated in the murder of George Floyd, and the other 3 STILL haven’t been arrested!
Black Pegasus
I once followed Keith back in the early 2000s when he had his website which featured a message board for LGBT. It was a great place for me back then when I was finding myself and I thank him for providing that space. Fast forward to today and Keith now suffers from the same stage 3 Trump Derangement Syndrome as his fellow Harvard alumni. I know it’s hard for him to resist the crazy far left lunacy of that elitist crowd but I’ll continue to hope he breaks free…
Btw, Don Lemon is a disgrace.
willward
You think he’s a member of some mythical far left lunatic group? He seems so rational, so balanced, so fair in his description of what happened. You, however, are the one calling people names and refusing to acknowledge what is obviously an unfair, and unjustified situation. Who feeds you these crazy descriptions and hateful rhetoric to belittle people who don’t agree with you?
Black Pegasus
@willward
From Keith Boykin’s Twitter:
“ Donald Trump is the most corrupt president in American history. Every day he remains in office exposes the failure of our institutions, the cowardice of our leaders and the weakness of our people.”
____________________
^^^ that is classic stage 3 TDS
Kangol2
@BlackPegasus, nothing that Keith says in that tweet is incorrect. Reality has a truthful bias, you know. The derangement lies in those still defending Don the Con, whose mendacity, coward and incompetence make George W. Bush look like Abraham Lincoln by comparison, and W Bush, whose critics were accused of “derangement,” easily ranks as one of the worst presidents in US history. But by the time Don the Con is out of office he’ll have outdone W Bush by many orders of 10!
Kangol2
I’m glad Keith is safe. He’s brilliant, talented and a person of real depth.