BLOGJanuary 15, 2018

Dallas Bishop Unites Widows of Slain Baton Rouge Police Officers to Meet Family of Alton Sterling

Tonight, founder and CEO of The Urban Specialists, Bishop Omar Jahwar, will bring together the widows of two Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police officers who were slain by a gunman in the wake of the shooting of Alton Sterling in 2016.

The Course Correction Conversation, hosted by the Urban Specialists, will provide a civil discourse that the group hopes will “bring together violence victims, public figures, lawmakers and the community for an open discussion about widening divides in America” while focusing on reunifying the nation.

How MLK Fought Injustice Without Letting Go of Principle

Brad Garafola and Montrell Jackson were killed by Gavin Long on July 17, 2016, in a mass shooting designed to purposely target law enforcement officers after civil unrest plagued the state of Louisiana. Tonight, Tonja Garafola, widow of Brad Garafola, and Trenisha Jackson, widow of Montrell Jackson, will meet the family of Sterling for the first time in Dallas on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Alton was killed in an officer-involved shooting on July 5, 2016,

The women professed the pain both families feel in their hearts and shared with Glenn why it’s important to share their experiences now.

Watch above.

This article provided courtesy of TheBlaze.

GLENN: Welcome back to the program. It's Martin Luther King Day. And we wanted to spend some time on something that is happening here in Dallas tonight at Achilles (phonetic). And you're invited to attend.

I want to take -- my family has plans tonight. But I can't think of anything more important than this.

And my kids should witness, because we are all -- all of us are going to face this.

We all have to decide who we are and where we're headed. Bishop Omar Jahwar is with us. He's the founder and CEO of Urban Specialist. And he is doing a course correction conversation tonight. You can find out all about it at Urban Specialist.org.

But he is bringing some people together that don't agree. And are feeling pain on both sides.

And I want to introduce you to a couple of them. Tanesha Jackson. She's the widow of Montrell Jackson. He is the Baton Rouge police officer that was killed a couple of years ago, along with his partner, Brad Garafola.

Did I say that right? No. Can you say that for me?

TONJA: It's Garafola.

GLENN: Garafola, sorry.

And his widow is here. Tonja, welcome to the program. Glad to have you both here.

I'm sure that this is one of the last places you want to be. And, Tanesha, you are really -- you have a heavy mantle to carry because we -- all of us, I think remember your husband's Facebook post, just a couple of days before he was killed. And if I can quote, I'm tired physically and emotionally. Disappointed in some families and friends and officers for some reckless comments. But what's in your heart is in your heart. I still love you because hate takes too much energy. But I definitely won't be looking at you the same. I swear to God, I love this city. But I worshiped if this city loves me. When I'm in uniform, I get nasty, hateful looks. I've experienced so much in my short life. And these last three days have tested me to the core. Look at my actions because they speak loud and clear. These are trying times. But please, don't let hate infect your heart. This city must and will get better. I'm working in these streets. So any protestors, officers, friends, family, or whoever, if you see me and you need a hug or you want to say a prayer, I got you.

How did the two of you not let hate infect your heart after your husbands were taken?

VOICE: Like Montrell said, it takes too much energy. And we're already going through enough grief and pain, that we just didn't need hate adding to that.

VOICE: And I feel as if his Facebook post was so prophetic, and it was just what I needed to survive. And I won't late hate in my heart. And so I've been doing that ever since he has closed his eyes. I have not let hate infected my heart, even when there's times when I get upset and I'm angry. I go back, and I read that post. And I remember what he said. Not let hate infect my heart. And that's what I've been doing. I've been walking like that every day.

GLENN: Since July of 2016, you both -- my wife hates it when I say this to her, but you both look so tired.

VOICE: We do. You get used to sleeping next to somebody for so long, 16 years, and then all of a sudden, it's gone. So...

GLENN: Did your husband have anything similar? Did he feel this coming at all?

VOICE: He did. He didn't have Facebook. However, when the Dallas incident happened, I had -- I had made a wreath to represent the Dallas police. And he had actually sent it out to a mass email to the sheriff's office. People and other law enforcement, and saying that he was praying for them and that he had their six.

GLENN: So we were obviously in Dallas. And my staff was down on the street when the shots rang out. And the protesters were cowering behind trees and -- and cars with us.

And we started talking to each other because of that. And we -- we actually heard each other, I think, for the first time.

What -- what is it that you guys are expecting tonight? Come together and -- why are you here?

What do you hope is going to happen?

VOICE: I want everyone to realize and understand that we all experience pain. And at the end of the day, it's the same pain. And basically, to fix that pain is for us to unite, we need to love on one another. And just basically get us together. Because I know in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 2017, the murder rate was through the roof. And there's just so much hate, hate. And at the end of the day, when somebody loses their life, each family member is hurting, and it's pain. And we want our cities to get it together.

GLENN: How about you, Tonja?

TONJA: Absolutely. Hoping to come together and learn something from one another. Even though our pain is the same, but we could always learn something every day. And learning from their pain and them learning from our pain will definitely help.

GLENN: You're going to -- you're going to meet the family of -- of a man who was held down on the ground by police officers and then shot in a horrific video. And they are coming tonight.

And that video is what stirred people up to kill your husbands. What -- have you met the family yet?

VOICE: No.

GLENN: What are your thoughts going into it, beforehand?

TONJA: I was a little reserved at first. But it's not -- it's not about my personal feelings. I need to let some of that go. And that's what I'm doing. So I can move forward, so I can heal.

TRENISHA: And I say at the end of the day, those kids have lost their father. And my son has lost his father as well. So I'm looking to see what I can learn from her. And I'm hoping she's looking to see what she can learn from me, because we both are hurting.

GLENN: Pastor.

OMAR: You know, man, I'm just -- see, this is what I'm saying. Listening to them, it makes me say, stop playing. Get serious with things that we take real seriously.

For them to be able to speak on it and having -- you know, this is not a long time. You know, a year ago. And they are here trying to figure out how we can be a part of something that they have experienced personally. It is just -- it's mind-blowing to me.

So I'm hoping that everyone sees them and feels what I feel. A sense of obligation to do what Montrell said. That was strong, and I read it.

And I know that this is the time. I know that this is the moment. And I feel -- you know, again, I'm a pastor. So in my spirit, I hear it. I hear the sound. I know it's time for us to do -- to do this.

And it might be difficult. And it is. And she's right. I've been asking her to do stuff. I know it's been difficult. Because I know it's time. And there are others who can gain from this moment. If we manage our emotions and get this message out right, this could be the start of something.

GLENN: It was a really difficult conversation that we had here in the studios, right after the Dallas shooting.

OMAR: Uh-huh.

GLENN: Because we brought in people who were protesting. And we brought in people from the other side.

And to break through the rhetoric, to break through the stuff that you're reading online -- and I want to say from the people who -- you know, there are some people who want to watch the world burn.

OMAR: Uh-huh.

GLENN: And what we found is a lot of the people that were there were horrified by this and were -- they were frightened for their own families and children, just in a different way. But we had that in common, that we weren't listening to each other.

We weren't -- they weren't hearing our fear. We weren't hearing their fear. And all we were hearing was the rhetoric.

OMAR: Right.

GLENN: And that's really hard.

OMAR: Well, you know, before we took a break, that's what I was about to say about gang members. What I learned from gang members, is the way you took someone's life is you have to dehumanize them.

You have to make them an object. See, the way a Crip kills a Blood is he's a Blood. The way a Blood -- because he's a Crip. And they use all these words. But that takes the idea in all this. That's a man. That's an individual. That's a family member.

She said it right. Those families feel the same way.

And I'm going to tell you something, no matter who it is that passes, no matter how treacherous they were, a person is still shocked and devastated when there is no chance for them to do whatever it is their life trajectory should do. So I try to remind people that humanity is a precious gift. Let's not take it for granted.

And sometimes we have to be reminded that this is real. This is not fake. This is it.

GLENN: We are -- we're at a place now, where we are dehumanizing each other.

OMAR: Uh-huh.

GLENN: It's amazing to me, I was on Facebook last night, or Twitter. And responding to some people who were just filled with, "You're not a person," because I disagree with you.

OMAR: Right.

GLENN: And is there -- is there a turning point? Is there a place to where it's too late?

OMAR: Well, I'm hoping not. I'm hoping not. That's why we're having this close correction. But I believe there is a place where we have so many casualties of that type of behavior, that even when we recover, we will recover at a lower state than we were. You know, there were a time when things can become apocalyptic in the way that we approach it. I mean, you can become the survival of the fittest.

See, whenever you get into survival mode, then you can suspend the rules.

Some people say, I don't need survival -- so it's okay. I do this because -- and that's how -- that's what we have turned -- ratcheted up this noise.

You know, I want people to understand, this is Tonja and it was Brad. I want people to hear, that's Tanesha. That's Montrell. I want them to hear that.

I want you to hear go through your -- I want you to hear that when you hear Andricka. She called him a seedy man. She didn't call him -- you know, when you see the little babies, they are babies. I saw her babies yesterday. He was a big boy too.

He's going to be big.

And, you know, I understand that this is very full circle. Sometimes we can try to shrink it because we want it to be appropriate to the pain we feel. And that's -- that's not what you do. You can't do drive-by analysis on complicated issues. You have to stay there for a moment. I didn't know you went out when the protesters did. I didn't know you had people here.

I did the same thing. We had -- we actually had -- the day after the shooting, we brought the protesters and the police together. And it was a very emotional, very tough conversation.

GLENN: Yeah. We got a lot of heat because we actually interviewed the family of the shooter.

And just listened to them.

And didn't glorify the shooter by any chance. But we really need to listen to each other. We really need to listen to each other.

OMAR: Yeah. Right.

GLENN: Thank you so much for coming. And thank you for being such a good example for your husbands and their memory. And we are truly sorry for your loss.

VOICE: Thank you.

GLENN: God bless you both.

RADIO

Could passengers have SAVED Iryna Zarutska?

Surveillance footage of the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, NC, reveals that the other passengers on the train took a long time to help her. Glenn, Stu, and Jason debate whether they were right or wrong to do so.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: You know, I'm -- I'm torn on how I feel about the people on the train.

Because my first instinct is, they did nothing! They did nothing! Then my -- well, sit down and, you know -- you know, you're going to be judged. So be careful on judging others.

What would I have done? What would I want my wife to do in that situation?

STU: Yeah. Are those two different questions, by the way.

GLENN: Yeah, they are.

STU: I think they go far apart from each other. What would I want myself to do. I mean, it's tough to put yourself in a situation. It's very easy to watch a video on the internet and talk about your heroism. Everybody can do that very easily on Twitter. And everybody is.

You know, when you're in a vehicle that doesn't have an exit with a guy who just murdered somebody in front of you, and has a dripping blood off of a knife that's standing 10 feet away from you, 15 feet away from you.

There's probably a different standard there, that we should all kind of consider. And maybe give a little grace to what I saw at least was a woman, sitting across the -- the -- the aisle.

I think there is a difference there. But when you talk about that question. Those two questions are definitive.

You know, I know what I would want myself to do. I would hope I would act in a way that didn't completely embarrass myself afterward.

But I also think, when I'm thinking of my wife. My advice to my wife would not be to jump into the middle of that situation at all costs. She might do that anyway. She actually is a heck of a lot stronger than I am.

But she might do it anyway.

GLENN: How pathetic, but how true.

STU: Yes. But that would not be my advice to her.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

STU: Now, maybe once the guy has certainly -- is out of the area. And you don't think the moment you step into that situation. He will turn around and kill you too. Then, of course, obviously. Anything you can do to step in.

Not that there was much anyone on the train could do.

I mean, I don't think there was an outcome change, no matter what anyone on that train did.

Unfortunately.

But would I want her to step in?

Of course. If she felt she was safe, yes.

Think about, you said, your wife. Think about your daughter. Your daughter is on that train, just watching someone else getting murdered like that. Would you advise your daughter to jump into a situation like that?

That girl sitting across the aisle was somebody's daughter. I don't know, man.

JASON: I would. You know, as a dad, would I advise.

Hmm. No.

As a human being, would I hope that my daughter or my wife or that I would get up and at least comfort that woman while she's dying on the floor of a train?

Yeah.

I would hope that my daughter, my son, that I would -- and, you know, I have more confidence in my son or daughter or my wife doing something courageous more than I would.

But, you know, I think I have a more realistic picture of myself than anybody else.

And I'm not sure that -- I'm not sure what I would do in that situation. I know what I would hope I would do. But I also know what I fear I would do. But I would have hoped that I would have gotten up and at least tried to help her. You know, help her up off the floor. At least be there with her, as she's seeing her life, you know, spill out in under a minute.

And that's it other thing we have to keep in mind. This all happened so rapidly.

A minute is -- will seem like a very long period of time in that situation. But it's a very short period of time in real life.

STU: Yeah. You watch the video, Glenn. You know, I don't need the video to -- to change my -- my position on this.

But at his seem like there was a -- someone who did get there, eventually, to help, right? I saw someone seemingly trying to put pressure on her neck.

GLENN: Yeah. And tried to give her CPR.

STU: You know, no hope at that point. How long of a time period would you say that was?

Do you know off the top of your head?

GLENN: I don't know. I don't know. I know that we watched the video that I saw. I haven't seen past 30 seconds after she --

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: -- is down. And, you know, for 30 seconds nothing is happening. You know, that is -- that is not a very long period of time.

STU: Right.

GLENN: In reality.

STU: And especially, I saw the pace he was walking. He certainly can't be -- you know, he may have left the actual train car by 30 seconds to a minute. But he wasn't that far away. Like he was still in visual.

He could still turn around and look and see what's going on at that point. So certainly still a threat is my point. He has not, like, left the area. This is not that type of situation.

You know, I -- look, as you point out, I think if I could be super duper sexist for a moment here, sort of my dividing line might just be men and women.

You know, I don't know if it's that a -- you're not supposed to say that, I suppose these days. But, like, there is a difference there. If I'm a man, you know, I would be -- I would want my son to jump in on that, I suppose. I don't know if he could do anything about it. But you would expect at least a grown man to be able to go in there and do something about it. A woman, you know, I don't know.

Maybe I'm -- I hope --

GLENN: Here's the thing I -- here's the thing that I -- that causes me to say, no. You should have jumped in.

And that is, you know, you've already killed one person on the train. So you've proven that you're a killer. And anybody who would have screamed and got up and was with her, she's dying. She's dying. Get him. Get him.

Then the whole train is responsible for stopping that guy. You know. And if you don't stop him, after he's killed one person, if you're not all as members of that train, if you're not stopping him, you know, the person at the side of that girl would be the least likely to be killed. It would be the ones that are standing you up and trying to stop him from getting back to your daughter or your wife or you.

JASON: There was a -- speaking of men and women and their roles in this. There was a video circling social media yesterday. In Sweden. There was a group of officials up on a stage. And one of the main. I think it was health official woman collapses on stage. Completely passes out.

All the men kind of look away. Or I don't know if they're looking away. Or pretending that they didn't know what was going on. There was another woman standing directly behind the woman passed out.

Immediately springs into action. Jumps on top. Grabs her pant leg. Grabs her shoulder. Spins her over and starts providing care.

What did she have that the other guys did not? Or women?

She was a sheepdog. There is a -- this is my issue. And I completely agree with Stu. I completely agree with you. There's some people that do not respond this way. My issue is the proportion of sheepdogs versus people that don't really know how to act. That is diminishing in western society. And American society.

We see it all the time in these critical actions. I mean, circumstances.

There are men and women, and it's actually a meme. That fantasize about hoards of people coming to attack their home and family. And they sit there and say, I've got it. You guys go. I'm staying behind, while I smoke my cigarette and wait for the hoards to come, because I will sacrifice myself. There are men and women that fantasize of block my highway. Go ahead. Block my highway. I'm going to do something about it. They fantasize about someone holding up -- not a liquor store. A convenience store or something. Because they will step in and do something. My issue now is that proportion of sheepdogs in society is disappearing. Just on statistical fact, there should be one within that train car, and there were none.

STU: Yeah. I mean --

JASON: They did not respond.

STU: We see what happens when they do, with Daniel Penny. Our society tries to vilify them and crush their existence. Now, there weren't that many people on that train. Right?

At least on that car. At least it's limited. I only saw three or four people there, there may have been more. I agree with you, though. Like, you see what happens when we actually do have a really recent example of someone doing exactly what Jason wants and what I would want a guy to do. Especially a marine to step up and stop this from happening. And the man was dragged by our legal system to a position where he nearly had to spend the rest of his life in prison.

I mean, I -- it's insanity. Thankfully, they came to their senses on that one.

GLENN: Well, the difference between that one and this one though is that the guy was threatening. This one, he killed somebody.

STU: Yeah. Right. Well, but -- I think -- but it's the opposite way. The debate with Penny, was should he have recognize that had this person might have just been crazy and not done anything?

Maybe. He hadn't actually acted yet. He was just saying things.

GLENN: Yeah. Well --

STU: He didn't wind up stabbing someone. This is a situation where these people have already seen what this man will do to you, even when you don't do anything to try to stop him. So if this woman, who is, again, looks to be an average American woman.

Across the aisle. Steps in and tries to do something. This guy could easily turn around and just make another pile of dead bodies next to the one that already exists.

And, you know, whether that is an optimal solution for our society, I don't know that that's helpful.

In that situation.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

Max Lucado on Overcoming Grief in Dark Times | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Ep 266

Disclaimer: This episode was filmed prior to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. But Glenn believes Max's message is needed now more than ever.
The political world is divided, constantly at war with itself. In many ways, our own lives are not much different. Why do we constantly focus on the negative? Why are we in pain? Where is God amid our anxiety and fear? Why can’t we ever seem to change? Pastor Max Lucado has found the solution: Stop thinking like that! It may seem easier said than done, but Max joins Glenn Beck to unpack the three tools he describes in his new book, “Tame Your Thoughts,” that make it easy for us to reset the way we think back to God’s factory settings. In this much-needed conversation, Max and Glenn tackle everything from feeling doubt as a parent to facing unfair hardships to ... UFOs?! Plus, Max shares what he recently got tattooed on his arm.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

Are Demonic Forces to Blame for Charlie Kirk, Minnesota & Charlotte Killings?

This week has seen some of the most heinous actions in recent memory. Glenn has been discussing the growth of evil in our society, and with the assassination of civil rights leader Charlie Kirk, the recent transgender shooter who took the lives of two children at a Catholic school, and the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, how can we make sense of all this evil? On today's Friday Exclusive, Glenn speaks with BlazeTV host of "Strange Encounters" Rick Burgess to discuss the demon-possessed transgender shooter and the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk. Rick breaks down the reality of demon possession and how individuals wind up possessed. Rick and Glenn also discuss the dangers of the grotesque things we see online and in movies, TV shows, and video games on a daily basis. Rick warns that when we allow our minds to be altered by substances like drugs or alcohol, it opens a door for the enemy to take control. A supernatural war is waging in our society, and it’s a Christian’s job to fight this war. Glenn and Rick remind Christians of what their first citizenship is.

Glenn's Show Prep

Dallas Bishop Unites Widows of Slain Baton Rouge Police Officers to Meet Family of Alton Sterling

How MLK Fought Injustice Without Letting Go of Principle

Could passengers have SAVED Iryna Zarutska?

Transcript

Max Lucado on Overcoming Grief in Dark Times | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Ep 266

Are Demonic Forces to Blame for Charlie Kirk, Minnesota & Charlotte Killings?

Here’s what we know about the suspected Charlie Kirk assassin