NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Vice President Mile Pence on Friday visited a predominantly black church, whose pastor has longstanding relationships with conservative groups, and spoke about racial injustice.
Pence kicked off his remarks at the Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Maryland, by addressing the protests filling streets across the country and George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis police custody last Monday.
Below are his remarks, according to the White House:
"We gather at a challenging time in the life of our nation. And as President Trump said in the Rose Garden this morning though, in this time, we are determined, as Americans, to move forward and move forward together with a renewed commitment to equality and equality of opportunity for every American. It is a time though when, as a nation, we mourn with those who mourn and grieve with those who grieve. And the American people's hearts were broken to see the video that came from the streets of Minneapolis. The death of George Floyd was a tragedy. And we have -- we've said, from the very outset, justice will be served. And I want to assure all of you and those looking on that we've deployed the full resources of the Justice Department to support the prosecution of those responsible to the fullest extent of the law. Let me also say that it's clear that those images shocked the conscience of the nation. We have no tolerance for violence against any individual in this country, no tolerance for police brutality, and no tolerance for rioting in the streets or looting, the destruction of property, or the claiming of innocent lives, including the lives of law enforcement. That's one of the reasons the President took the strong action earlier this week, working with governors, to deploy resources and personnel to our streets. And I'm pleased to report that, in cities across the country, we've quelled the violence and made space for peaceful protesters to continue to let their voice be heard. We will always stand for the right of every American to engage in peaceful protest, to seek redress of the government. And because of the efforts of law enforcement and other personnel, we've moved past the violence that we saw in our streets. And we'll continue to do that."
