Again, I want to be perfectly clear. I did absolutely nothing wrong. I don't hide from who I am. I'm the American Dream. My mother was a Black mother in Section 8 housing. My father was an Arab man who disappeared when I was just 2 years old. About 15 years ago or so, I was arrested on two different occasions for petty crimes. I won't re-litigate the merits of those offenses in this short time, but two arrests in your early twenties as a Black man often sets people back, so far back, that they never again find firm footing upon which they can succeed.
I managed to collect those two criminal charges as I was just starting out as an adult. I had every reason to fail in life, but I refused to fail. My faith in Christ refused to allow me to fail.
Instead, I worked to change the system people insisted was supposed to hold me down. I got involved in politics and started putting together coalitions, rallies, raising awareness for a variety of candidates and causes I believe in. I went from riding in the back of a cop car as the accused to advising the Presidential administration on criminal justice reform.
I used a silhouette of my most tragic youthful mug shot on a T-shirt to raise money for fatherless Black boys. Boys who were growing up like me. I've hosted hundreds of rallies with millions of participants in all 50 States, not one single rally, to my knowledge, has ever turned violent, not one, never. That's not a coincidence. I demand nonviolence at my events. I demand nonviolence among my membership and leadership. I demand it nonviolence among my associates.
My leadership and I work closely with law enforcement at every event to ensure peace and order. We obey rules and commands, we treat officers and officials with the respect they deserve. Those principles were not compromised on January 6th. In fact, I stated on numerous occasions that I support the production of legislative solutions and
