US turning into dictatorial police state: Activist

The United States is becoming a dictatorial police state as police continues violent intimidation of the African Americans, says an activist.

Lee Jasper, a race relations activist from London, said in an interview with Press TV that “there seems to be that there is an epidemic of violence that is taking place and that the police are out to prove some sort of point that they refuse to do away with the violent intimidation of the black community often with tragic circumstances in the face of what it has been nationwide protest.”

This is almost like America is turning into a “dictatorial police state,” where the police have no regard for the human rights of many of their African-American, Latino, Muslim and Mexican citizens, he stated.

The activist also noted that “there is always a presumption that a black male however young is a serious potential threat to life.”

A New York Police Department officer recently punched a 12-year-old black boy who was being handcuffed by four other officers.

Jasper concluded that “there has to be total radical reform of the criminal justice and policing systems of America,” otherwise there will be an explosion of violence if this “police brutality” continues.

New York City as well as other cities and towns in the United States have been the scene of protests for weeks over police brutality against African Americans.

Protests have been held in New York City over the case of Eric Garner, who was placed in an apparent choke hold on July 17 by officer Daniel Pantaleo. However, a grand jury did not indict Pantaleo.

Similar demonstrations have been held in other cities over grand juries’ failure to indict other officers who killed three other unarmed black people, namely Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin.