Ben Carson Pens Op-Ed With Brazen Message for Black Lives Matter Protesters

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson wrote in a column for USA Today Monday that much of the anger from Black Lives Matter protesters is misplaced and won't result in meaningful change.

"The 'BlackLivesMatter' movement is focused on the wrong targets, to the detriment of blacks who would like to see real change and to the benefit of its powerful white liberal funders using the attacks on Sanders for political purposes that mean nothing for the problems that face our community," Carson wrote.

Dr. Benjamin Carson speaks during the National Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton, Feb. 7, 2013 in Washington. (Getty Images)

"The notion that some lives might matter less than others is meant to enrage," the famed neurosurgeon continued. "That anger is distracting us from what matters most. We're right to be angry, but we have to stay smart."

[sharequote align="center"]"The notion that some lives might matter less than others is meant to enrage."[/sharequote]

"Of course, the protesters are right that racial policing issues exist and some rotten policemen took actions that killed innocent people. Those actions were inexcusable and they should be prosecuted to deter such acts in the future," Carson added.

Carson wrote that problems violence and unemployment also plague inner-cities, leaving many people facing hopelessness.

"I grew up in neighborhoods most Americans were told to never drive through. I saw bullets, drugs and death in the same places I played tag and ball with my friends. Both of my older cousins died on the streets where I lived. I thought that was my destiny," he wrote.

"But my mother didn't," he added. "She changed all of that. She saved my brother and me from being killed on those streets with nothing but a library card."

Carson proposed five places Black Lives Matter protesters should be marching: 1.) local board of education 2.) entertainment industry 3.) city hall 4.) local hubs for drug dealers 5.) both political parties.

The comments from Carson echoed comments he made to TheBlaze earlier this month. After an event in New York City, the presidential candidate had called for demonstrators to also tackle the issue of black-on-black crime.

Read Carson's entire op-ed here.

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