Mike Pence: ‘Far Too Much’ Talk About Racism In Policing

Indiana governor and Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence made a campaign stop in Colorado Springs, Colorado on September 22. During his speech at an evangelical church, the candidate discussed institutional racism within police departments across the country.

We should “set aside talk” of institutional racism, Pence told the crowd, reports KSL.com. He further suggested that recent police shootings in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Charlotte, North Carolina, call for law enforcement to “speak with compassion” while assuring the public that “justice will be served.”

“Donald Trump and I both believe that there’s been far too much of this talk of institutional bias or racism in law enforcement,” Pence concluded.

Speaking to a black church in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 21, Trump addressed the death of Terence Crutcher at the hands of Tulsa Police.

“He looked like somebody who was doing what they were asking him to do,” Trump began, notes WCBS. “And this young officer, I don’t know what she was thinking, I don’t know what she was thinking. It’s very troubling.”

“Did she get scared?” Trump asked of the female officer that shot Crutcher, reports USA Today. “Was she choking? What happened? … Maybe people like that, they shouldn’t be doing what they’re doing.”

Trump later tweeted, “”the situations in Tulsa and Charlotte are tragic. We must come together to make America safe again.”

However, speaking with Fox News in July, Trump stated his belief that the Black Lives Matter movement has led to the killing of police.

“Certainly, in certain instances they are,” Trump began. “They certainly have ignited people and you see that … It’s a very, very serious situation and we just can’t let it happen”.

And, according to the New Republic, during a televised Republican debate in January, Trump noted that “police are the most mistreated people in our country.”

Sources: KSL.com, WCBS, CNN, USA Today, New Republic / Photo Credit: Donald Trump / Instagram