Hawk Newsome, president of Greater New York Black Lives Matter, told Fox News Wednesday that if America does not give his organization what it wants, "we will burn down this system and replace it."
"If this country doesn't give us what we want, then we will burn down this system and replace it," he told host Martha MacCallum. "All right? And I could be speaking figuratively. I could be speaking literally. It's a matter of interpretation."
"Let's be very real," he continued. "Let's observe the history of the 1960s, when black people were rioting. We had the highest growth in wealth, in property ownership. Think about the last few weeks since we started protesting. There have been eight cops fired across the country."
"What is this country rewarding? What behavior is it listening to? Obviously not marching. But when people get aggressive and they escalate their protests, cops get fired, Republican politicians talking about police reform," he said.
"I don’t condone nor do I condemn rioting," he added.