Indiana AG Curtis Hill: NFL players should protest black-on-black violence

Attorney General Curtis Hill celebrates with his supporters at the Indiana GOP election party on Nov. 8 at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis.

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill said on national TV that if NFL players are protesting black lives lost, then they should bring awareness to violence that black people commit against other black people.

"In terms of protesting the issue of black lives lost," Hill said, "one of the most dramatically difficult things to fathom in this country is the amount of lives lost — black lives lost — as a result of black-on-black violence.

"In the same year that we experienced about 259 police officer shootings of blacks in 2015, there were 6,000 black lives lost to murders from black people."

Hill made the remarks Saturday morning on "Fox & Friends" on the Fox News Channel. He was expounding on an op-ed he had recently sent out to news organizations.

► What they said:NFL owners are responding to Trump's comments about Colin Kaepernick and kneeling

► Doyel:Colts players explain why they are kneeling for the national anthem

► After his walkout:Here's what Mike Pence wants the NFL to do about players who kneel during anthem

While Hill, who is black, said he believes in the players' right to protest however they want, he questions their timing for doing it during the national anthem when the nation is already divided. If they are speaking out against the loss of black lives, he said they also should look at a larger issue that people often ignore: black-on-black violence.

"When we're talking about the issue of saving black lives, that's a dramatic issue that needs to be brought to the forefront, and this is an opportunity for the NFL to not just stand in silence over an issue that they think is important but to rise up in unity and make sure that we're all aware of this important issue and do something about it," Hill said Saturday on the Fox show.

Citing data he said came from The Washington Post, the Indiana attorney general said 259 black people were killed by police in 2015, and he compares that to an estimated 6,000 blacks who died as a result of black-on-black crime.

Hill, a former prosecutor, also said the vast majority of police shootings resulting in death are justified, although he said officers should be prosecuted if such shootings are found to be unjustified. 

"I was a former prosecutor for a number of years, and I can tell you that the vast majority of police shootings resulting in death, whether it's a black victim or a white victim, are typically determined to be justified shootings. In other words, they are typically situations that involve some measure of criminal activity or violent activity," Hill said.

"In the rare instance where a police action is unjustified, then we absolutely have to take action where it's warranted. Police have to be held accountable and arrested and prosecuted for murder, if warranted."

The practice of players in the NFL — and now in other sports both professional and amateur — kneeling during the playing of the national anthem has stirred a controversy, since former NFL Quarterback Colin Kaepernick began doing so last season.

While players say they're protesting police violence against blacks and racial injustice, others have begun saying that their message has become muddled as more people object to what they see as an insult to the nation's anthem, flag and military.

President Donald Trump also has weighed in, saying on Twitter that the practice of players kneeling during the national anthem was unpatriotic and saying that NFL owners should fire them if they do that. And Vice President Mike Pence recently walked out of an Indianapolis Colts home game against the San Francisco 49ers, after some players kneeled during the playing of the anthem.

Hill also addressed that issue on the Fox show.

"When this controversy began, the concern that was voiced by NFL players was the issue of black lives being lost to police gunfire," Hill said on "Fox & Friends."

"And that certainly is a critical situation that we need to address but in the course of the last season, it's questionable as to whether the protests are about the police brutality, racism or are they just upset that the president is upset with them. And I think the concern has become muddled as I've looked at it."

But Hill also made it clear that citizens should stand up against violence of any type.

"I don't want to suggest that only black-on-black violence is an issue in this country. It's not. We need to abhor all violence," he said Saturday. 

 

Here is the full text of Hill's op-ed sent to news organizations:

Whether justified or not, loss of life caused by a police shooting is traumatic for the community. Given the legacy of racial injustice in America, that trauma is magnified greatly when the person killed by the police is black.

The lives of black men and women do indeed matter, and NFL athletes have every right to protest the tragic loss of any life, including black lives.

These players recognize that their NFL celebrity status affords them a unique platform to call attention to matters of importance and perhaps even a responsibility to speak out. And now that the world is watching, the NFL has an opportunity to speak out, in great force, on a tragedy of unspeakable proportion — the senseless loss of young black lives to black-on-black violence.

While it is true that each year a number of blacks die as a result of being shot or otherwise killed by the police, that number is but a fraction of the number of black people murdered by black people.

In 2015, 259 blacks were killed by police, according to data collected by The Washington Post.

Even if we were to presume that all 259 police shootings were unjustified, that number is dwarfed by the estimated 6,000 black lives senselessly murdered by other blacks.

We live in a nation where blacks make up approximately 13 percent of the population and yet account for more than half of the murders. Shockingly, 90 percent of those victims are murdered by other blacks.

Something is terribly wrong. 

Black-on-black youth gun violence is costing thousands of lives a year. Generations are being wiped out. Witnesses of these murders frequently are unwilling to cooperate with police, allowing many murderers to get away with it — meaning no justice for that life lost.

To be sure, in the rare instance in which the police officer’s actions are unjustified, that officer should account for his conduct — including arrest and prosecution for murder whenever warranted by the evidence. Even one unjust shooting is one too many.

But contrary to the tone of many protests concerning police shootings, not every police shooting is unjust. In fact, the overwhelming majority are proven to be a reasonable use of force often connected with violent criminal behavior.

Yet none of the 6,000 murders of young black people was justifiable. None. Every single death was preventable. Every single murder demands justice.

The killing must stop.

And the NFL’s opportunity? Violence is a constant threat, and blacks are being murdered at alarming rates in cities all over this nation — including cities that host NFL franchises.

These NFL franchises and athletes can magnify the urgency of this tragic loss of life. Their actions on the field and off can unite them as men of influence who stand for justice.

Rather than kneeling in silence, they should choose to stand as men of character and courage and tackle black-on-black violence.

How many more young black men will die at the hand of another black man between the final whistle of last Sunday’s game and next Sunday’s kickoff?

This tragedy deserves the attention of every American. NFL players may be just the right men to start this protest and stand up against black-on-black violence and give voice to a movement whose time has come in order to save the lives of young black men.

Call IndyStar reporter Domenica Bongiovanni at (317) 444-7339. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.