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2015 MTV Video Music Awards - ArrivalsI have to do this because Charlamagne won’t.

DJ Envy earned himself “Donkey of the Day” Tuesday for defending the NYPD’s outlawed “stop and frisk” policy during a segment on The Breakfast Club. The topic came up during a talk about Monday’s presidential debate, when Donald Trump suggested implementing “stop and frisk” as a solution to Chicago’s homicide epidemic.

Charlemagne and the debate moderator both mentioned the fact that “stop and frisk” had already been ruled unconstitutional in 2013. But Trump and Envy were both sure that randomly searching citizens for weapons is a long-term solution for violence.

“They got a lot of guns off the street,” said Envy of the NYPD’s failed program. “The way the NYPD was doing it was unconstitutional. They didn’t do it the way that it was supposed to be done. That’s why they pulled it from New York.”

https://twitter.com/saksfive_music/status/780854592980545536

Envy’s statements are shocking even if you know he comes from a family of law enforcement officers. As soon as the comments aired, Envy began trending on Twitter. So does he really agree with Trump’s description and prescription for cities struggling with urban violence? Does he agree that laws should be made to keep guns from away from, as The Donald put it, “people that are bad people and should not have them?”

Is Envy really co-signing this ideology? Does he actually believe that the NYPD’s version of “stop and frisk” only failed because they didn’t racially and geographically profile New Yorkers specifically enough Charlemagne and Angela Yee questioned how factual Envy’s statement that it “got a lot of guns off the street” was. And Charlemagne even referenced data that showed the practice was only 3-percent effective.

“Of 2.4 million stops by police between 2009 and 2012, the stops resulted in a 3 percent conviction rate and just 0.1 percent of the stops went on to a violent crime conviction.” Charlemagne

Our words have power, especially on a platform as massive as The Breakfast Club. Envy isn’t wrong for feeling how he does, if he really feels that way, but he probably doesn’t. He was likely talking just to talk and got caught up in his words when he didn’t have the facts to back them up. It happens to all of us. But you gotta hold you L and play the donkey when it does.

https://twitter.com/mynameisjamel/status/780775240561467392

It is possible that Envy’s family ties, money and skin tone have protected him enough from the injustices of our justice system to believe in the same sort of law and order Donald Trump is pushing. But it’s more likely that he slipped up and made an ignorant statement that he was too proud to back down from. Whatever the case, Envy probably already regrets his comments. Hopefully he sticks to the introductions and leaves the ridiculous comments to Charlemagne from now on. Pray for him until then.

 

PHOTO: Getty

Charlemagne Should Give DJ Envy Donkey Of The Day For His Stop And Frisk Comments  was originally published on globalgrind.com