In one black Portland police officer’s frontline experience, the Black Lives Matter protests in his city are not about helping black people attain better lives. What this officer sees is privileged white kids infiltrating communities that don’t belong to them to burn stuff, break things, cause trouble, incite violence, and tell black people what they should do.

This officer, Jakhary Jackson, is a nine-year veteran of the Portland Bureau of Police. After working for Nike for 10 years, Jackson joined law enforcement to “make the most out of my life by helping others.” Both sides of his family have long Portlandian roots. Jackson works where he grew up, and his love for the people of his community is evident.

A Different Kind of Racism

During a Portland press availability, Lt. Tina Jones interviewed Jackson, simply asking him to share his experience working these protests every evening for the last few months.

I’ll say this. I got to see folks that really do want change like the rest of us, that have been impacted by racism. And then I got to see those people get faded out by people who have no idea what racism is all about, that have never experienced racism, that don’t even know that the tactics they are using are the same tactics that were used against my people.

Read more at The Federalist