Donald Trump Advocates Nationwide Stop and Frisk, People Say ‘Nah’

By Sameer Rao Sep 22, 2016

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, apparently still trying to reach Black voters, decided to show his concern for their well being by advocating for the nationwide use of an extremely controversial policing practice—one that, like all bad policing, disproportionately affects Black people. 

During a Black voter-focused town hall in Cleveland that aired on Fox News last night (September 22), Trump answered an audience question on how to stop violence in Black communities by advocating for the implementation of stop and frisk across the country.

"I would do stop and frisk. I think you have to," Trump said. "We did it in New York, it worked incredibly well. And you have to be proactive, and you know, you really help people sort of change their mind automatically."

The policy, first implemented in New York City, allows police officers to stop and physically search people regardless of whether or not they believe a crime was committed. Stop and frisk’s critics say it exarcerbates racist profiling and abuse of citizens of color, and a federal judge in New York City ruled it unconstitutional

Trump’s position provoked criticism from the New York City mayor Bill de Blasio, as well as many social media users:

Later on Fox News, Trump said he only meant to include cities with high rates of shooting deaths like Chicago.

In other Trump news, Kathy Miller, one of his campaign chairs in Ohio, resigned today after telling The Guardian that there was "no racism" before President Barack Obama, calling Black Lives Matter "a stupid waste of time" and suggesting that "if you’re Black and you haven’t been successful in the last 50 years, it’s your own fault." A statement from Trump’s Ohio campaign to Politico called her comments "inappropriate."

(H/t ABC News, CNN)