Donald Trump has defended the police, saying they “are doing incredible work in this country.”
Washington:
President Donald Trump on Tuesday praised the United States police service and downplayed police violence against blacks, saying “more white people” are being killed by police.
In an interview with CBS News, the Republican president was asked why black people are still dying at the hands of law enforcement.
“And white people too, white people too. What a terrible question to ask. White people too. More white people, by the way. More white people,” said Trump.
The May 25 death of African-American George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis sparked protests across the United States and led to an increased focus on American police violence against Black.
Half of those killed by police are white, but black Americans are killed at a disproportionate rate, according to a Washington Post analysis updated on Monday. They represent less than 13% of the American population, but are killed by the police at more than double the rate of white Americans, according to the analysis of the newspaper.
Some Americans claim that the Black Lives Matter protests unfairly defamed the police.
Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House, defended the police, saying they “are doing incredible work in this country.”
“You can have a cop, a terrible cop, on occasion like you do in any industry, any business, any profession,” added Trump.
Jeffery Robinson of the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement that Trump’s comments were racist.
“Trump’s racism is so absolute that he continues to refuse to even tacitly acknowledge the epidemic of police violence against blacks in America,” he said.
Recent social unrest has raised new questions about the flying of the Confederate battle flag in parts of the country and whether the statues honoring Confederate leaders during the American Civil War should be removed from important places.
Asked by CBS if the flag should be “removed”, Trump replied: “I know people who love the Confederate flag and they don’t think about slavery.”
He added: “It’s freedom of expression.”
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
