Four months before he was killed by a police officer, Rayshard Brooks spoke up about his hopes and the harshness of the U.S. criminal justice system.
This interview was filmed by Reconnect, a tech startup focused on criminal justice reform, as part of a research project earlier this year.
This interview was filmed by Reconnect, a tech startup focused on criminal justice reform, as part of a research project earlier this year.
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00:00I'm out now and I have to try to fend for myself when I've been taken away from, you know, society.
00:07And, you know, now I have to go out here, you know, clueless of everything that's been going on.
00:15I don't know. I'm trying to adapt back to society.
00:18Some of the system could, you know, look at us as individuals.
00:23We do have lives, you know, where it's just a mistake we made.
00:27You know, and, you know, not not just do us as if we are animals.
00:50By you having this so-called record, you know, it's hindering us from going out in public to, you know,
01:02you know, try and provide for ourselves as far as getting a job and getting ourselves back on track.
01:08You go to filling out your application and you get to this question.
01:11Have you ever been convicted of a crime or have you ever been arrested?
01:17You know, you're sitting there like, oh, my God.
01:21You know, I hope this doesn't, you know, hinder me from getting this job.
01:27You know, and then you finish up the application and you have some employers that come back to you.
01:33Well, Mr. Brooks, unfortunately, we can't hire you due to the fact that you've been incarcerated.
01:42Are you been, you know, arrested for this and that?
01:46You know, that just, you know, your heart just breaks your heart.
01:50We have to go back and try to fix things with our kids and, you know, try and gain that trust back.
01:57You know, with being away, you know, my oldest daughter, Dad, you know, she's hey, I love you so much.
02:06But where have you been?
02:08You know, and I have to, you know, feather up the energy to let her know everything that has went on within me and the situation that I have been through.
02:19It's hurting us, but it's hurting our family the most.
02:24This is a mental thing. You know, it's also messing with our mental state.
02:29And, you know, by us being incarcerated, not being able to see, you know, just the outside, not being able to go being woke up and being told what to do, when and how.
02:43You know, some people, you know, they're they're considering suicide and, you know, a lot of things that they don't know.
02:53You know, just a lot of pressure for oneself to be able to feather up the energy to deal with, you know, and it's just it's just a lot.
03:03It's just a lot. You know, and some people, they're just not able. Me going through that process, it hardening me.
03:10It hardened me at a point, you know, to like, hey, you know, I have to have my my guard up because the world is cruel.
03:20I'm trying, you know, I'm not the type of person to give up, you know, and I'm going to keep going until I make it to where I want to be.
03:29We can't give the time back what we can make up for it.