September 22, 2016 | No Comments
Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday refused to take a position on Donald Trump’s controversial proposal to increase the use of stop-and-frisk tactics to reduce crime in African American communities such as Chicago.
During a Fox News town hall taped Wednesday, the real estate tycoon said law enforcement should increase its use of stop-and-frisk to curb “black-on-black crime.”
“I would do stop and frisk,” Trump told Sean Hannity. “We did it in New York, it worked incredibly well. And you have to be proactive.”
Ryan — who said earlier this week he hopes the House can pass criminal justice reform during the lame duck — deferred when asked about Trump’s statements.
“I haven’t given enough thought to it,” the Wisconsin Republican said, later adding: “I’m not a Judiciary guy so I would defer to [Judiciary Chairman] Bob Goodlatte about the constitutionality of police tactics. I can’t speak to that.”
The New York City Police Department’s stop-and-frisk practices were ruled unconstitutional by a federal court in the summer of 2013 because they were found to be racially discriminatory.
Trump’s pitch came on the heels of more violence in Charlotte, N.C. Wednesday evening, during protests that followed the recent killings of two black men by police in Tulsa, Okla. and Charlotte. Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency and one civilian was reported to be on life support after being shot during a protest.