Chris Rock: 'Oh, They Shot Him In The Leg? Must've Been A White Guy'

'Oh, They Shot Him In The Leg? Must've Been A White Guy'

Shortly after President George W. Bush took office in 2001, Robert Pickett fired several shots just outside the White House, brandishing a weapon at law enforcement officials. He was shot.

A week later, Chris Rock appeared on "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart, who noted that Bush was already getting shot at.

"That's right. That guy jumped the fence or whatever and they shot him," Rock replied. "I knew it wasn't a brother, because they shot him in the leg. It's like, 'Oh, they shot him in the leg? Must've been a white guy.'"

Looking at Stewart, he added, "What do you mean they shot him in the leg? Oh, must be nice."

The exchange starts at around the two-minute mark.

While Pickett, a former IRS agent, survived his attack on the White House, two recent national incidents -- the twin killings of Eric Garner and Michael Brown -- remind us that encounters with law enforcement seem to be much riskier for black people. "The Daily Show" returned to the theme again last month.

The incidents are not perfectly analogous, of course: Neither Garner nor Brown were armed.

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