A St. Louis rapper told
Newsmax TV on Tuesday that he is less concerned about property damage in the wake of Monday's Michael Brown shooting verdict and more upset about Brown's death.
"A building can be rebuilt. Goods and things like that can be re-bought," rapper T-Dubb-O told "MidPoint" host Ed Berliner, adding, "You can't bring a life back at the end of the day."
T-Dubb-O said that he joined the crowds in Ferguson, Mo., on Monday night to await the announcement of the grand jury's decision. He said he felt like he knew what was coming — that jurors would decline to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the Aug. 9 shooting.
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"But like everybody else, I wanted to be there and hear it live," he said. "I also went just to be a part of the movement, just to be a part of the fight, and try to keep people as peaceful as possible, and do some crowd control, be out there for the families — just be out there for the people."
He said that when protests turned violent he did not take part in any looting or burning of local businesses, but nor did he try to stop others.
"That's the reason that the world is paying attention," T-Dubb-O said of the unrest. "Before a building was burnt down — an inanimate object … the world could care less that a young unarmed black man was killed in the middle of the street."
He called the damage to property "unfortunate" but insignificant compared to the loss of Brown's life and the sight of his body left lying in the street for four hours.
The interview turned contentious over points of evidence and testimony from the grand jury proceedings, with T-Dubb-O arguing, "They haven't proved anything."