Trump open to chokehold ban
WASHINGTON • U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview aired on Friday that he would like to see a ban on police chokeholds in most instances, although he suggested their use would be understandable in some oneon-one situations.
“I don’t like chokeholds … (but) sometimes, if you’re alone and you’re fighting someone, it’s tough,” Trump told Fox News Channel, while adding: “It would be, I think, a very good thing that, generally speaking, it should be ended.”
Trump’s comments follow the May 25 death of African-american George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis policeman knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Floyd’s death ignited a wave of protests in American cities and abroad, and it re-energized the Black Lives Matter racial justice movement.
Trump on Thursday announced modest plans for an executive order on policing, while making it clear he would not support sweeping proposals in response to the protests.
Some Republicans in Congress have indicated support for certain measures proposed by Democrats, including a ban on chokeholds and eliminating the legal defence of “qualified immunity,” which helps officers evade civil rights lawsuits.
“I think it’s a disgrace and it’s got to stop,” Trump said of police violence against African-americans. He added that the actions of a “bad apple” could not be allowed to destroy the image of law enforcement officers who “take really good care of us.”
In the interview, which was taped on Thursday, Trump said he wanted “really compassionate but strong law enforcement.”
He said the concept of banning chokeholds “sounds so perfect.” But he said the use of a chokehold could be understandable “if a police officer is in a bad scuffle and he’s got somebody in a chokehold.”
“And that does happen. So, you have to be careful,” Trump added.
Meanwhile the mayor of Seattle said it would be unconstitutional and illegal for Trump to send military forces into the city to clear protesters occupying a neighbourhood, as he has suggested.
But Mayor Jenny Durkan, speaking at a press conference this week, did not say how or when authorities would remove the roughly 500 demonstrators who have established a makeshift encampment behind barricades in the Capitol Hill district. “It is unconstitutional and illegal to send the military into Seattle,” said Durkan, a first-term Democrat. “There is no imminent threat of an invasion of Seattle.”
Activists have occupied the area since police on Monday abandoned their East Precinct station in a move city officials say aimed to reduce tension.
“We’re not going to let this happen in Seattle. If we have to go in, we’re going to go in,” Trump told Fox News on Thursday.