Parson: ‘We have to change the ways of this society’

Protests and violent riots continue across the nation and even some parts of Missouri after the death of George Floyd. Governor Mike Parson says we have to change the ways of this society.

“We have to change our ways of this society. George Floyd should have never died the way he died. It wasn’t acceptable for what the officers done and they have to be held accountable for that,” said Parson during a press conference. “Nor should that retired [St. Louis] police officer that died last night. The people that shot him last night should be accountable. And no they are not protestors. They are criminals and they’re thugs. They need to be held accountable.”

This comes after a retired St. Louis police captain was killed by people who broke into a pawn shop after protests turned violent overnight Tuesday.

“I’ve called out the National Guard and we’re going to strengthen up the National Guard,” said Parson. “We’re not going to have police officers, we’re not going to have the citizens of Missouri, being shot in our streets in this state. And we’re going to put an end to it.”

Parson says the state will call over 1,000 troops from the National Guard to go wherever they are needed to try to curb these violent protests.

“We have to come up with real solutions to try to figure out how we change things. You have to stop the criminal activity first before you do anything. Then you have to sit down and find a plan that everybody has input into and see how we change society.”