US Police Treat Blacks Different From Whites, Especially Men - Attorney General Barr

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th July, 2020) The recent killing of unarmed African-American suspect George Floyd, which sparked nationwide protests and riots, illustrates a troubling aspect of US law enforcement - blacks are often policed differently from whites, US Attorney General William Barr said in an interview.

"I do think it is a widespread phenomenon that African American males, in particular, are treated with extra suspicion and maybe not given the benefit of the doubt," Barr told ABC news on Wednesday.

Protests often accompanied by riots in the wake of multiple high-profile killings of unarmed African Americans has evolved into a nationwide call to defund police departments in cities across the United States.

"Before the George Floyd incident, I thought we were in a good place," Barr said. "I think that this episode in Minneapolis showed that we still have some work to do in addressing the distrust that exists in the African American community toward law enforcement."

In Congress, efforts to enact police reform legislation collapsed in the Senate, where a bill authored by the chamber's only black Republican Senator Tim Scott was defeated by Democrats who voted nearly unanimously against his legislation.

Scott, who joined Barr during his visit to South Carolina on Wednesday to meet with law enforcement, said he remains hopeful that legislators can reach agreement on the bipartisan reform effort.