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‘Tonight Show’ Drummer: Calling Rioters ‘Thugs’ Is Code For ‘N***ers’

Derek Hunter Contributor
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Ahmir Khalib Thompson, better known as Questlove, did not appreciate Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, or anyone else, using the word “thugs” to describe rioters throwing bricks at police, looking businesses and burning buildings.

“It is very clear there is a difference between what we saw over the past week with the peaceful protests, those who wish to seek justice, those who wish to be heard, and want answers and the difference between those protests and the thugs who only want to incite violence and destroy our city,” Rawlings-Blake said at a press conference Monday. “I’m a life-long resident of Baltimore and too many people have spent generations building up this city for it to be destroyed by thugs who in a very senseless way are trying to tear down what so many have fought for.”

Questlove, drummer for The Roots, the house band for “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon,” appears to have taken issue with this. On Twitter, Questlove cut to the chase:

When asked what word should be used, Questlove did not respond.