--- description: Novelist Marlon James told an audience in Paris on Sunday that the U.S. has a "third world police" that has led to violence. title: Marlon James: U.S. Has a "Third World Police" image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20a3875056e5f856/6988a58c0b72e3b3de6eaf46/marlon-james-police-united-states.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Prize-Winning Author Says U.S. Has a 'Third World Police'  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 12, 2016 3:16 PM CUT  Author Marlon James winning author of "A Brief History of Seven Killings" speaks at the ceremony for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2015 on October 13, 2015 in London, England. Author Marlon James winning author of "A Brief History of Seven Killings" speaks at the ceremony for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2015 on October 13, 2015 in London, England.WPA Pool—Getty Images  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 12, 2016 3:16 PM CUT Novelist Marlon James, who [won the 2015 Man Booker Prize](http://time.com/4072147/2015-man-booker-prize/ "undefined") for his book _A Brief History of Seven Killings_, [told an audience](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/11/us-afflicted-with-third-world-police-says-author-marlon-james "undefined") in Paris on Sunday that the U.S. has a “third world police” that carries out “state sanctioned violence” against African Americans. “What people like me find alarming is there is almost state-sanctioned violence in America, particularly with the police,” said James, the [_Guardian_](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/11/us-afflicted-with-third-world-police-says-author-marlon-james "undefined") reports. “America has developed a weird kind of third world police, which horrifies people like me and my friends from Kenya or Nigeria.” James was born in Jamaica and moved to the U.S. to teach and write, and both of his parents [were police officers](http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Marlon-James-blasts-US--Third-World--police "undefined") in Jamaica. His prizewinning novel chronicled the Prize WinningJame history of an assassination attempt on Bob Marley and he has said his next book will be an [African](http://time.com/4147384/marlon-james-african-games-of-thrones/ "undefined")[ _Game of Thrones_](http://time.com/4147384/marlon-james-african-games-of-thrones/ "undefined")_._ “The whole idea that you are beyond the law you are serving and protecting, and that killing people will not have consequences, is something that we who migrated to America thought we had got away from,” he said. “This sort of unquestioned authority, straight up killing people is why Black Lives Matter happened.” James had been speaking at the literary event Festival America. \[[_The Guardian_](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/11/us-afflicted-with-third-world-police-says-author-marlon-james "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4487336/prize-winning-author-says-u-s-has-a-third-world-police/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4487336/prize-winning-author-says-u-s-has-a-third-world-police/"},"headline":"Prize-Winning Author Says U.S. Has a 'Third World Police'","datePublished":"2016-09-12T15:16:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:31:40.284Z","description":"Marlon James says he is alarmed by the actions and authority of police in the U.S.","url":"https://time.com/4487336/prize-winning-author-says-u-s-has-a-third-world-police/","keywords":["politics","celebrities","Books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20a3875056e5f856/6988a58c0b72e3b3de6eaf46/marlon-james-police-united-states.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20a3875056e5f856/6988a58c0b72e3b3de6eaf46/marlon-james-police-united-states.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"marlon james police united states","caption":"marlon james police united states","creditText":"WPA Pool—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4487336/prize-winning-author-says-u-s-has-a-third-world-police/","name":"Prize-Winning Author Says U.S. Has a 'Third World Police'"}}]}] ```