but we cannot allow these images to taint or control the conversation. as i ve said, if you are being violent or causing destruction, you do not stand with michael brown jr. we all need to move forward. as we ve been discussing, that s where the president invited me and other civil rights and elected leaders to the white house today, to talk about better policing in this country. that is the conversation we need to have. yesterday i was in ferguson, honoring michael brown jr s life, and i talked about that. god s going to use michael to make this nation deal with police accountability. michael told his dad, the world going to know my name. but they not going to know your name, michael because of a rap record.
michael brown s death hit a nerve, because there s so many stories like his. in staten island, new york, a police chokehold led to the death of eric gardner. in brooklyn, new york, police opened fire in a dark stair well, killing someone who was unarmed. in cleveland, police shot down 12-year-old tam ir rice, who had a pellet gun. all these cases occurred just in the last few months. there are countless others. today the president took a big step toward finding answers. joining me now is congressman hakeem jeffries, democrat from new york. he ll lead the congressional black caucus tonight in speeches from the house floor on ferguson. and msnbc analyst and retired atf analyst jim cavanaugh. thank you both for being here. good evening, rev.
thanks, reverend. congressman, civil rights leaders meeting with the president and vice president. i was in ferguson over the weekend talking to faith leaders. have we reached a tipping point? well, we have an epidemic of police violence in this country. we have a clear, national problem. that s why it requires national intervention, which is why many of us were pleased that the president brought together civil rights community, young activists, law enforcement officials today. that s why the congressional black caucus is going to speak from the house floor on being black in america. what does ferguson say about where we are and where we need to go. we have three issues to confront. it s unacceptable that young, innocent, unarmed african american men continue to be gunned down by police officers across the nation. it s unacceptable that we have a broken criminal justice system that continues to fail to