Trump blames racism in policing on 'bad apples'
during visit to Kenosha
US president defended law enforcement while touring
Wisconsin city that became flashpoint after police shooting of Jacob Blake
David Smith
in Washington
@smithinamerica
Tue 1 Sep
2020 23.05 BSTLast modified on Wed 2 Sep 2020 00.45 BST
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/01/donald-trump-division-kenosha-protests-jacob-blake
Donald
Trump brought his politics of division to Kenosha, Wisconsin, planting himself
firmly on the side of law enforcement rather than civil rights protesters
during a contentious visit to the city.
The US
president insisted that racial injustice in policing is due to “bad apples”
rather than being “systemic” and that a silent majority of Kenosha residents
are most concerned about “law and order” rather than racism.
Kenosha
became the latest flashpoint in a long summer of unrest in America after Jacob
Blake, an African American man, was shot seven times in the back by police as
he tried to enter his vehicle. Three nights of protests set off more than 30
fires and culminated in a 17-year-old militia supporter allegedly shooting and
killing two demonstrators – an act that Trump has pointedly failed to condemn.
Since then,
marches organized both by police sympathizers and Blake’s family have been
peaceful with no vandalism. But, critics say, Trump has seized on vivid TV
pictures for political gain with no intention of healing or unifying.
On Tuesday,
the Blake family held a community gathering at the shooting site with a DJ
playing music and tables set up so people could register to vote, get a
haircut, take a coronavirus test or write a messages to put in Blake’s hospital
room. The president was not invited.
Trump’s
motorcade passed crowds of demonstrators, some holding pro-Trump signs, others
jeering while carrying placards that read Black Lives Matter. Under heavy
police guard, including several armored vehicles, Trump toured the charred
remains of a block including a furniture shop that was burned down.
Then,
flanked by the attorney general, William Barr, and the acting homeland security
secretary, Chad Wolf, Trump hosted a meeting at a high school of community and
business leaders, law enforcement officials and pastors against a backdrop of
photos showing vandalism.
“We have to
condemn the dangerous anti-police rhetoric,” Trump said. “It’s getting more and
more, it’s very unfair. You have some bad apples, we all know that, and those
will be taken care of through the system, and nobody’s going to be easy on them
either.”
Other
officers “choke” under “tremendous pressure”, he added. “They may be there for
15 years and have a spotless record, and all of sudden they’re faced with a
decision, you have a quarter of a second, quarter of a second to make a decision.
And if they make a wrong decision, one way or the other, they’re either dead,
or they’re in big trouble.”
He avoided
repeating a slip made in a TV interview on Monday night when he compared such
“choking” incidents to a golfer crumbling under pressure on an important putt.
Trump told
the meeting that “violent mobs” in Kenosha damaged or demolished at least 25
businesses, burned down public buildings and threw bricks at police officers.
“These are not acts of peaceful protest but, really, domestic terror,” he said.
He pledged
the federal government will provide $1m to police, nearly $4m to small
businesses for their recovery efforts and a further $42m statewide for public
safety.
One
reporter noted there have been countless peaceful protests and asked Trump
bluntly if he believes systemic racism is a problem in America. The president
declined to say so, replying: “You just keep getting back to the opposite
subject. We should talk about the kind of violence that we’ve seen in Portland
and here and other places.”
“It’s tremendous
violence. You always give it to the other side, ‘Well, what do you think about
this or that?’ The fact is we’ve seen tremendous violence and we will put it
out very, very quickly if given the chance, and that’s what this is all about.”
Trump added:
“I keep hearing about peaceful protests. I hear it about it everything and then
I come into an area like this and I see the town is burned down.”
Trump said
he declined to meet with Blake family during the visit because they wanted to
have a lawyer present.
Asked what
he would say to them, he replied: “I feel terribly for anybody that goes
through that. As you know, it’s under investigation. It’s a big thing happening
right now... and I hope they come up with the right answer.”
Assailed by
the Covid-19 pandemic and economic disarray, “law and order” is seen a valuable
distraction for Trump’s re-election campaign. He again blamed Democratic
politicians for encouraging agitators and anarchists in Kenosha and several
other cities.
On Monday
his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, issued a forceful rebuttal, saying of the
president: “He may believe mouthing the words law and order makes him strong,
but his failure to call on his own supporters to stop acting as an armed
militia in this country shows you how weak he is.”
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