Justice & Law Quote by Jacob Frey

“We cannot turn a blind eye” is the politician’s version of a camera flash: it signals urgency, moral clarity, and public visibility all at once. Jacob Frey’s phrasing leans on a familiar civic script - the idea that injustice persists not only because of bad actors, but because of the many who look away. The line is engineered to make passivity feel like complicity, without naming who, specifically, has benefited from that passivity. It’s a pressure tactic wrapped in consensus language.

The real work happens in the pronouns. “We” distributes responsibility broadly, diluting individual culpability even as it calls for collective action. Frey is both inside and outside the group he’s addressing: “on us as elected officials and as individuals” tries to bridge the credibility gap between government power and personal conscience. It’s a double appeal meant to reassure skeptics (the system is accountable) while motivating supporters (your outrage is legitimate). The structure also implies a rebuke: if justice fails, it won’t be because the stakes were unclear.

“Ensure that justice is served” is deliberately procedural. It avoids specifying outcomes - a conviction, a reform, a resignation - and instead frames justice as an institutional meal that must arrive, hot and intact. That vagueness is strategic in moments of crisis, especially around policing and public trust, where any explicit promise can become a political trap. The intent is to align the speaker with moral urgency while keeping room to maneuver once the headlines move on.