Conservative leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch has weighed in on the backlash towards Martyn Blake's acquittal of the murder of Chris Kaba, as urges people "not to pretend he was a victim".
Kim Johnson, Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, sparked controversy after claiming that there was a focus on “racist gang tropes” when reporting on the case.
Discussing the Kaba case, Johnson told MPs: "I would like to send my condolences to the family, friends, and loved ones of Chris Kaba.
"Particularly this week while the media are using racist gang tropes to justify the killing of Chris Kaba."
The Tory leadership hopeful weighed in on the trial of Chris Kaba in an interview with GB News
GB News
Speaking to GB News, Badenoch told host Patrick Christys that the idea that the black community "all think the same and believe the same thing is nonsense".
Badenoch explained: "I do not believe in the use of this phrase, 'the black community'. There are many different people who are black who have different views, different experiences, different ancestry.
"The idea that we're all, you know, in a club somewhere, making decisions together, all think the same and believe the same thing, vote the same way is nonsense."
Throwing her support behind Britain's police officers, Badenoch stated: "First we need to give them some space, otherwise no one is going to join the police.
Johnson, speaking today in the Commons, has slammed media outlets for focusing on Kaba’s gang past in their coverageHouse of Commons"I believe in the police officers in this country. I believe in policing by consent. We do it very well.
"Let's not mess things up with the sorts of things that we've been seeing, where people are celebrating a criminal and pretending that he was a victim without talking about all the people who were his victims."
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Analysing the case of Chris Kaba and the information released about his criminal past following the verdict of the trial, Badenoch affirmed that Kaba was someone who had committed "very serious crimes", and for him to be "celebrated" is "completely wrong".
Badenoch told GB News: "The fact is, this is somebody who committed some very serious crimes.
"This belief that you can do things like that and you're still celebrated by others, just because you share that colour of the colour of their skin is completely wrong.
"It is not right. This was somebody who was a serious criminal, and I think the worst thing is that a police officer had to go through so much just for doing what was right."
Kemi Badenoch says the idea that all black people think the same way is 'nonsense'
GB News
When pressed by Patrick on whether she backs Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's fresh probe into the anonymity and accountability of police marksmen and firearms officers in similar cases, Badenoch admitted that she does.
Badenoch said: "Yes, I would support it. I think that the police today are doing a much harder job than they've ever had to do before, endless people filming them and putting the videos on social media.
"You remember the incident in Manchester where it was clipped to look as if the police were the aggressors, when actually they had been attacked."
