Bobby Rush, congressman and Black Panther Party veteran, in 1997 [airdate corrected]

U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.)
(Click or tap to hear audio)

Then flirting with a campaign for mayor of Chicago, here’s U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush in an interview with me, aired (correcting date) Dec. 21, 1997.

On his role in 1968 as co-founder of the Black Panther Party’s Illinois chapter: “The focus of the civil rights movement became police oppression. … Some viewed the police department like an occupying army as it relates to the black community.”

And on police behavior in 1997: “I would send a message to police officers: We honor you, we respect you … but we will not tolerate police brutality.”

All still sadly relevant today.