Roland Martin Unfiltered
Roland Martin Unfiltered
April 6, 2026

Dashaun Williams Bodycam Release. Trump Targets DEI Programs. Sinclair Right-Wing Propaganda Exposed

Quick Read

This episode dissects three critical issues impacting Black America: documented police brutality in Jacksonville, Trump's proposed budget cuts targeting minority programs, and the systematic right-wing media propaganda by Sinclair Broadcasting in Baltimore.
Jacksonville police bodycam shows Dashaun Williams tased and beaten by multiple officers despite compliance, highlighting systemic excessive force.
Trump's proposed budget targets DEI, minority businesses, and social programs with billions in cuts, while boosting military spending.
Sinclair Broadcasting uses local media (Baltimore Sun, Fox affiliate) to push a right-wing agenda, attacking Black elected officials and progressive policies.

Summary

Roland Martin Unfiltered exposes a pattern of systemic issues affecting Black communities. First, the release of bodycam footage from Jacksonville, Florida, reveals officers tasing and severely beating Dashaun Williams, a Black man, despite his compliance, leading to a fractured jaw and raising questions about the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office's use of excessive force. Second, the podcast details Donald Trump's proposed 2026 budget, which aims to 'defund black America' by drastically cutting programs related to diversity, minority-owned businesses, public health, education, and infrastructure, while simultaneously proposing a massive increase to the military budget. Third, the discussion highlights how Sinclair Broadcasting, under chairman David Smith, uses its control over local media outlets like the Baltimore Sun and Fox affiliate to push a right-wing agenda, targeting Black elected officials and progressive policies in Baltimore, and actively working to dilute Black political power through biased reporting and ballot initiatives.
This episode is crucial for understanding the multi-faceted attacks on Black communities, from direct physical violence by law enforcement to systemic economic disenfranchisement through budget cuts, and the insidious influence of right-wing media manipulating public perception and political power. It underscores the urgent need for media literacy, community organizing, and strategic support for independent Black media to counter these pervasive threats.

Takeaways

  • Jacksonville police bodycam footage reveals officers tasing and brutally beating Dashaun Williams, a Black man, who was non-resistant, resulting in a fractured jaw.
  • Attorneys for Williams allege systemic excessive force by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, noting the bodycam video was only released via discovery, not by the department.
  • Donald Trump's proposed 2026 budget includes billions in cuts to programs supporting diversity, minority businesses, public health, education, and low-income families, framed as targeting 'woke' initiatives.
  • Trump's budget proposes a $1.5 trillion increase to the Pentagon, while cutting critical domestic programs, revealing skewed priorities.
  • Sinclair Broadcasting, through its chairman David Smith, controls local media in Baltimore (Baltimore Sun, Fox affiliate) to target Black elected officials and progressive policies.
  • Sinclair's media tactics include framing crime narratives to demonize Black youth and oppose criminal justice reform, and funding ballot initiatives to dilute Black political power.
  • The episode emphasizes the critical need for Black-owned media and community action (boycotts, media literacy) to counter right-wing propaganda and protect Black interests.

Insights

1Police Brutality Against Dashaun Williams

Bodycam footage from Jacksonville, Florida, shows officers repeatedly tasing, beating, and kicking Dashaun Williams, a 24-year-old Black man, during his arrest in November 2025. Attorneys Ben Crump and Harry Daniels assert Williams was compliant and did not resist, yet was tased by two officers simultaneously (against policy) and punched seven times in the face, causing a fractured jaw. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office did not publicly release this video, which only surfaced through Williams' defense attorney's discovery process.

Attorneys Ben Crump and Harry Daniels plus Gerald Griggs are investigating what they call a troubling pattern of excessive force by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. In the video we're about to show you, officers are using a stun gun and repeatedly beating and kicking Williams. Williams was one of four men arrested as a result of a monthslong drug operation. Attorneys say that that no matter the charges, no one deserves to be treated like this. I'm going to warn you folks, uh, the video is extremely hard to watch... From my stance that Deshawn never resisted. He complied. They simply told him to stop... Then they tased him. Uh the law is very clear that you cannot tase a person for passive resisting uh resistance. He was not resisting at all. Uh he was being compliant. And also u Roland which you don't see from that angle he was tased by two officers uh where he not only had 50,000 votes going through him he had 100,000 votes going to him which is against taser policy of being tased by multiple uh officers... he's getting punched, kicked, kneed in the face multiple times that resulted in a fractured jaw... The only reason that the video is now out is because it's through his his defense attorney. The discovery uh was sent to him and he received they received a video uh through the uh discovery in his criminal case. The Jacksonville sheriff office, they posted all the videos to this operation, but they conveniently left out the arrest of uh the son Williams.

2Trump's Budget Targets Black America

Donald Trump's proposed 2026 budget seeks to cut billions from programs promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), minority-owned businesses, public schools, vocational training, affordable housing, and low-income assistance. These cuts, which include $47 million for minority-owned businesses and $8.5 billion for public schools, are framed as eliminating 'woke' initiatives that allegedly discriminate against white people, while simultaneously proposing a $1.5 trillion increase to the Pentagon budget.

Donald Trump, we know he never gave a damn about black people at all. And guess what? his proposed budget uh makes it perfectly clear that their effort is to continue to defund black America. Uh who are they targeting? Programs to promoting diversity, helping black and Hispanic students, and also boosting minority owned businesses. All initiatives Trump derided as woke... $510 million for grants for farmers... $82 million in loans for rural small businesses fully eliminated. $47 million to support minority owned businesses totally wiped out. $8.5 billion funding for public schools, $1.5 billion for vocational training and adult education, totally wiped out. $2.7 billion for college access and higher education support... $4 billion to help paying home heating and cooling bills for lowincome families. A total wipeout of the program... he wants to increase the Pentagon budget for the first time over $1 trillion. He wants the Pentagon's budget to be $1.5 trillion.

3Sinclair Broadcasting's Right-Wing Media Control

David Smith, chairman of Sinclair Broadcasting, uses his influence over local media, including the Baltimore Sun and a local Fox affiliate, to push a right-wing agenda and target Black elected officials in Baltimore, such as Mayor Brandon Scott, Governor Wes Moore, and former prosecutor Marilyn Mosby. Sinclair's tactics include biased crime reporting that demonizes Black youth and opposes criminal justice reforms, and personally funding ballot initiatives designed to dilute Black political power, such as a proposal to reduce the city council size.

Sinclair television. They own a number of local stations all across the country. Uh well they also the chairman also was involved in the buying of the Baltimore Sun... he has been using the Fox affiliate and now the Baltimore Sun to specifically target African-Americans... David Smith is from Baltimore uh and he believes that he's really re representing white Baltimore and he frankly believes that black folks have too much power there in Baltimore... In 2018, he actually said explicitly publicly that his job is to carry Trump's message into people's uh people's homes... Against the current mayor in Baltimore... invested an unprecedented amount in community- based organizations, particularly community violence interruptors... that goes against a very fundamental right-wing policy position... David Smith worked on was a ballot question, right? And he funded, there's this group called Peace... he put, you know, several hundreds of thousands of dollars into a ballot question that would have reduced the size of the city council... makes these districts much larger, which creates more opportunity to dilute black political power... Sinclair continuously does this thing where they're demoniza they're demonizing investment and blackled grassroots organizations and they target specific organizations.

Bottom Line

The delayed release of Dashaun Williams' bodycam footage, only through defense attorney discovery, suggests a deliberate attempt by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office to suppress evidence of police misconduct.

So What?

This highlights a systemic issue where police departments control the narrative by selectively releasing information, hindering accountability and public trust.

Impact

Advocacy groups and legal teams should push for legislation mandating immediate and comprehensive release of bodycam footage in all use-of-force incidents, reducing departmental control over critical evidence.

Sinclair Broadcasting's strategy of acquiring local media outlets and using them to push a specific political agenda, including attacking Black leadership and progressive policies, demonstrates a sophisticated long-term plan to reshape local political landscapes.

So What?

This isn't just about national politics; it's a localized, pervasive form of propaganda that directly impacts community resources, criminal justice, and democratic representation at the grassroots level.

Impact

Communities need to actively map media ownership in their areas, identify biased outlets, and organize targeted boycotts of those outlets and their advertisers. Simultaneously, investing in and promoting independent, community-led media initiatives becomes crucial for counter-narratives and informed local discourse.

Lessons

  • Actively support and consume Black-owned and independent media outlets to counter right-wing propaganda and ensure diverse narratives are heard.
  • Boycott Sinclair Broadcasting-owned local news stations and newspapers, and pressure their advertisers to withdraw support, to impact their financial bottom line.
  • Engage in media literacy education to understand the political agendas behind news sources, especially local corporate media, and discern biased reporting.
  • Vote in local and national elections to elect officials who will protect programs supporting disadvantaged groups and challenge media consolidation that threatens democratic discourse.
  • Lobby Congress and local representatives before budget proposals or media mergers are finalized, demanding votes against measures that harm minority communities or consolidate media power.

Quotes

"

"The law is very clear that you cannot tase a person for passive resisting uh resistance. He was not resisting at all. Uh he was being compliant."

Harry Daniels
"

"These black men are getting brutalized. It doesn't matter what you uh what they charged with. You know, police officer not judge your executions. Your job is to arrest a person and bring them in front of a judicial officer if they going to be tried by a judge and jury. That's all your job is."

Harry Daniels
"

"Show me what your budget is and we show you what you what you value."

Dr. Omongo
"

"This guy wants to make it impossible for anybody who is not wealthy to be able to function. They want them to have every aspect of dependency on the government or or the Trump administration possible."

Dr. Omongo
"

"David Smith... said explicitly publicly that his job is to carry Trump's message into people's uh people's homes."

DaVon Love
"

"Societal antilackness and the way that it operates is that stations like Fox 45 and the Baltimore Sun will report on individual instances of extreme acts of violence... What that does is that it creates a context where those that are consuming the information then assume, oh, this must be rampant and that there needs to be more policies to be harder on those that are committing crime."

DaVon Love
"

"When we as black people when we watch more television, more reality shows, we watch uh movies and all sort of stuff along those lines and we're not watching news shows, we don't understand how we are being targeted and how media is being used to target us."

Roland Martin

Q&A

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