Rent-to-own provides a vital service to millions of Americans. It is also critical for African-Americans, Latinos and other minorities to have access to alternative products and services, such as rent-to-own.
— William Lacy Clay, Jr.
We have to have a national conversation about how police forces should interact with the African-American community, who happens to be paying their salary, who want to be served and protected, who these officers are take an oath to do so.
It is apparent, if you go back through our history, that the grand juries of the criminal justice system do not value black lives.
I made a promise to Michael Brown's parents that I would do everything to bring all of the resources of the federal government to this investigation so that it is transparent; so that it is a viable investigation, and we get to the truth.
It is critical that low-income consumers have access to alternative products and services such as rent-to-own. It gives working-class families opportunities to obtain decent household items without incurring the burden of debt.
It's an issue that we need to have a national discussion about, the militarization of local police forces, and then when they are used to quell peaceful demonstration. Then we have a problem, and especially around this entire case of the murder of Michael Brown at the hands of a Ferguson police officer.
Just to assassinate Michael Brown's character is wrong.
I went to Ferguson and walked with the demonstrators and saw this heavily armed police force, tactical units pointing sniper rifles at my constituents who were there exercising their constitutional rights.
I made a commitment and a promise to Ms. McSpadden, Michael Brown's mother, that I will pursue justice with the family at every avenue, be it on the federal level or at the state level.
Michael Brown happened to be black. Trayvon Martin happened to be black. Eric Garner was a black man. So this pattern continues over and over.
I have absolutely no confidence in the Ferguson police, the county prosecutor.
A militarized police force facing down innocent protesters with sniper rifles and machine guns is totally unacceptable in America.
