Attorney Benjamin Crump says he takes death threats against him seriously
Attorney Benjamin Crump has represented the families and victims of some of the most prominent civil rights cases in the country, ranging from the shooting of Trayvon Martin to the murder of George Floyd. Those cases, and his strategy of bringing those stories to the media, have resulted in death threats, which he takes seriously, he tells senior contributor Ted Koppel in an interview for "CBS Sunday Morning" to be broadcast May 16.
"I never take the death threats for granted. When we get them, we report them to the FBI," Crump told Koppel.
When asked if he gets a lot of threats, Crump replied, "More than I would like. And I know that some people could do extreme things because they don't think that we should have equal rights.
"I believe God has a purpose for me," he added. "And if I die fulfilling that purpose, then my life would not have been in vain. I do believe there has to be some things that a man is worth dying for, and the future of our children, to me, is worth dying for."
Crump says his mission is simple: "I'm an unapologetic defender of Black life, Black liberty and Black humanity … and that's why I am proud to call myself a civil rights lawyer who believes that it's about these romantic notions of liberty and justice for all," he said.
In a wide-ranging interview Crump talks about his use of the media to get his message out, race in America, his family, and more.
Crump also addressed his use of the word genocide when it comes to the United States and racial inequalities in the legal system.
"When you think about what Black people have been suffering for 400 years in America, since 1619 when the first enslaved Americans were brought to America, I would argue [it is] legalized genocide – when you think about the very laws that have been created that are supposed to protect us are being used to kill us," Crump said. "When you think about what happens in every city, in every state, in every courtroom in America, every day, you see that they are killing our people. They're killing African Americans, they're killing marginalized people of color, using the law, whether it's killing them physically, or it's killing them legally with these trumped-up felony convictions."
Watch a preview clip from Ted Koppel's interview with Benjamin Crump:
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