Trump courts Black men as he pledges return to a policy that disproportionately targeted them

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July 7, 2024

By Curtis Bunn, NBC

More than 2 million Black men have been stopped and frisked by police before the practice was deemed unconstitutional.

Donald Trump’s support of stop-and-frisk is confusing when he wants to court Black voters (MANDEL NGAN/Getty Images)

For years, lawyers and advocates fought the use of “stop and frisk,” a policing tactic that left a majority of Black and brown men who experienced it physically and mentally scarred and distrustful of law enforcement. After a lengthy legal battle, a federal judge in 2013 found it unconstitutional, essentially banning it.

Still, former President Donald Trump wants to bring it back.

A key pillar of Trump’s anti-crime platform demands police departments reinstate stop and frisk — which allows officers to randomly stop and search people for weapons — or else risk critical federal dollars flowing into their coffers.

“I will insist that local jurisdictions return to proven common sense policing measures, such as stop and frisk,” Trump said on his campaign website. “Very simple.”

Not for many Black men who are perplexed that Trump would claim to covet their vote but wants policy that has proven to target and hurt Black men.

[…]

Trump’s calls for stop-and-frisk come as he is trying to appeal to more Black voters, hoping to siphon away support from a key constituency that sent President Joe Biden to the White House in 2020.

[…]

But with more than 2 million Black men having experienced stop-and-frisk, even some Black conservatives who support Trump — like Shelley Wynter, a New Yorker who lives in Atlanta — say they are ambivalent about the policy.

NBC has more details.

Stop and frisk has been found unconstitutional.

Get election coverage on our breaking news page.

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