Tuesday on Fox News Channel’s “Your World,” Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) reacted to the unrest tied to an officer-involved shooting in Kenosha, WI.
Scott urged patience, calling for the facts to come out before conclusions are drawn.
“I mean, it is hard to come to a conclusion without all the facts,” he said. “And what we’re missing in Wisconsin are the facts. What we should do is continue to pray for the recovery of Jacob. We should pray for peace in the streets. I hearken back to 2015, when Walter Scott, not a relative, but Walter Scott was shot and killed in North Charleston, South Carolina. We had peaceful protests, but we did not erupt in violence, which allows for the investigation to continue and for clarity to come forward. It took time for that to happen. All the facts did not present themselves at the same time or even in a timely fashion.”
“So, I’m asking for people to take a step back and to be patient,” Scott continued. “If you’re going to protest, do it peacefully. What violence does, violence begets violence, and it distracts from the family, it distracts from the facts, and that only makes it harder for truth to prevail, harder for truth to manifest. And that’s not good news for Wisconsin. It’s certainly not good news for the community. But it’s really bad news for the family that wants all the facts to come forward. Let’s give that process time. And, in South Carolina — if there was a wrongdoing, as there was in South Carolina, we found that officer going to jail. But we need all the facts before you draw that kind of a conclusion.”
“And, unfortunately, in the current environment, it’s really hard for people to be patient and wait for the facts, especially when they think this is a system that continues to reproduce the same outcomes,” he added. “I think you have to be a little more patient than drawing conclusions prematurely.”
The South Carolina Republican lawmaker urged patience, adding that the nation’s arc “has always bent towards fairness.”
Anarchy was not in “anyone’s best interest,” he said.
“If you feel like local law enforcement is unable to contain the crowds and to keep it in a peaceful manner, it is in the best interest of the peaceful protesters, the family, the investigation to bring in help from the outside, whether that’s the state Guard or National Guard,” Scott explained. “We have to have really order in our streets. Chaos really leads to anarchy, and that is not in anyone’s best interest. So, the restoration of order is consistent with allowing all the information to come to the surface. And it might be ugly, but it might not be.”
“But, in order for us to find that out, I’m encouraged by the governor’s willingness to do whatever it takes to restore peace, which allows fairness and objectivity to rule the day,” he continued.
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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