Washington, D.C. — As the nation remains roiled in civil unrest in the immediate wake of police-involved killings of Black Americans such as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, among many others, a new column by the Center for American Progress Action Fund shows how President Donald Trump’s record on police brutality and his attacks on peaceful protest have inflamed tensions and worsened race relations in America. The column, “Trump’s Record on Police Brutality and Peaceful Protests: Making the Problem Worse,” traces President Trump’s record throughout his public life, from his controversial comments encouraging police to use violence against suspects; his advocacy for unconstitutional stop-and-frisk policies; his executive orders rolling back Obama-era policing practices; his calls to use the death penalty for the Central Park Five and nonviolent drug offenders; his incitement of violence at his own campaign rallies; and, most recently, his administration’s use of tear gas and rubber bullets to violently disband peaceful protesters for a photo opportunity outside the White House.
This comes at a time when President Trump faces a riptide of public opinion. Eight in 10 Americans believe that the country is “out of control” under his leadership, as it has become increasingly clear that he has failed to rise to the moment of handling America’s intersecting crises of police violence and civil unrest, the coronavirus pandemic, and historic unemployment. As the nation calls for structural reforms to address police brutality and racial injustice, President Trump, who has long played to his political base as the “law and order” president while showing little regard for the law himself, is instead doing what he has always done: making the problem worse.
“President Trump has a long history of siding with law enforcement and using the bully pulpit to quash peaceful protest against racial injustice and police brutality. The country is now at an inflection point and is calling for systemic policy changes in policing, but unfortunately, President Trump has proven time and again that he is not up to the task,” said Freedom Alexander Murphy, communications associate for the War Room at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
Read the full column: “Trump’s Record on Police Brutality and Peaceful Protests: Making the Problem Worse” by Jeremy Venook
For more information on this topic or to talk to an expert, please contact Freedom Alexander Murphy at [email protected].