NYPD Commissioner William Bratton called rap artists “basically thugs” during a radio interview after one person was fatally shot and three were wounded at a planned T.I. concert in Manhattan last night.
In a radio interview with WCBS 880 on Thursday [May 26], Commissioner Bratton stated that the shooting was a result of “basically thugs celebrating violence.”
“The crazy world of these so-called rap artists who are basically thugs that basically celebrate violence they did all their lives, and unfortunately that violence often times manifests itself during their performances, and that’s exactly what happened last evening.”
Bratton then went on to blame the artists background that they are “bringing into entertainment with them” as the main source for violence in music overall.
“The background of a lot of these young people, they are significant artists in that world,” Bratton said. “But unfortunately the lifestyles that they lived…often time follows them into the entertainment world and the success they have in it.”
Bratton continued to speak ill of rappers in a separate interview with WOR Radio today [May 26]: “When you talk about clowns, knuckleheads, it’s unfortunate that it’s still in that gangster rap world,” he added. “That’s what you’re dealing with: That gangster lifestyle.”
During the interview, Bratton also gave his opinion on the use of body cams in New York City, stating that he is in support of body cams because it allows the public to see things from the “officers point of view.”
“We’ll now see the perspective from the police point of view, what they are encountering, and I think that will balance it significantly,” Bratton said.
Check out the interview below, courtesy of Buzzfeed.
