Former New York Mayor
Rudy Giuliani’s recent remarks that 93 percent of black people killed in America are killed by their own race “is what it is and you can’t erase those statistics,” former New York Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik said Monday on
Newsmax TV's “America’s Forum.”
“We saw it in New York, we see it around the country,” he said. “Political correctness in the U.S. today pushes people not to talk about it. Pushes people not to admit it, not to agree with it. They want to focus on something else.”
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Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press” to discuss the racially charged situation in Ferguson, Missouri, Giuliani said the media should be paying more attention to the reason white police officers are in black neighborhoods. A grand jury panel there is weighing whether to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the August fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager.
White police officers killing black people are “the significant exception," Giuliani said.
Kerik characterized as “outrageous” the leaks coming from inside the grand jury in Ferguson.
“The only people that know what's going on in there are the prosecutors,” Kerik said. “That shouldn't be leaked out to the public.”
He also criticized civil rights activist Al Sharpton and others who he said are inciting the public.
“Al Sharpton and all these people protesting and making these public statements and threatening civil disobedience, that is influencing and it could influence the process and the grand jury process,” he added. “It's wrong, just wrong. Let the people in the grand jury see the evidence, analyze the evidence and evaluate it. The leaks are outrageous.”
Sharpton and other “opportunists” take advantage of tragedies such as the one in Ferguson, according to Kerik.
“We live by a set of laws, the Constitution that we're supposed to follow – follow the law,” Kerik said. “Let due process find out what the real evidence is. Nobody knows what the evidence is, with the exception of the people sitting in that grand jury and the prosecutor.”
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Kerik also offered his opinions on the
situation in Iraq, where he said it’s extremely important that the United States stay as involved as possible to boost the Iraqis’ confidence.
“The Iraqi National Security Forces don't have confidence,” he said. “They lost a number of battles and have come close to losing their entire country. The president has moved to send 1,500 soldiers over the last several weeks, the advisers – that was a good move and maybe more to come.”
Kerik acknowledged the unique challenges presented by rampant corruption within the military ranks in the Middle East.
“Whether it's Iraq, Afghanistan or other places around the world (there) are these kind of corruption issues,” he said. “We have to try and lead by example in those areas. You're going to have these problems. It's a different mindset and a different culture. They operate very differently in these other countries. They don't have the same oversights, inquiries and investigations.”
And addressing media reports that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel
was forced to resign, Kerik said there are plenty of other capable leaders to fill in.
“The military commanders on the ground know what they're doing,” he said. “These are the guys we should be listening to and we should be following. The secretary of defense is one of the most important positions in this country, but we have some phenomenal people in the leadership in the military right now. We'll be OK, but it'll be interesting to see who they replace Hagel with.”