Rev. Al Sharpton addresses Tulsa crowd, criticizes President

The Rev. Al Sharpton addresses the crowd at a Juneteenth rally in Tulsa, Okla., Friday, June 19, 2020. Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take control of the state and ensure all enslaved people be freed, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

TULSA, Okla. — Speaking before several hundred people gathered at the site of Tulsa’s infamous white-on-Black rampage 99 years ago, the Rev. Al Sharpton took on the President’s comments directly.

He referred to the President’s tweet on Friday morning of a warning about any “lowlifes” showing up against his rally on Saturday. “It’s lowlifes that shoot unarmed people, Mr. President,” Sharpton said. “You couldn’t be talking about us, because we fought for the country when it wouldn’t fight for us.”

He also challenged the President’s lasting campaign slogan. “Make America great again — give me the date that America was great for everybody,” Sharpton said.

“Greatness is when Blacks and whites and Latinos and Asians and original Americans take the streets all over this country and march against your tear gas” and threats to call out the military to squelch protests, Sharpton said. “That’s when you make America great.”

“Look over here in Greenwood tonight. This is what is great tonight,” Sharpton said.