William Barr

Barr Denies Systemic Racism in Police Shootings of Black Men

Barr made the comments in an interview with CNN

Attorney General William Barr, right, speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump listens during a Coronavirus Task Force news conference in the briefing room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, March 23, 2020. Trump said the U.S. economy cant remain slowed for too long to fight coronavirus, declaring the country "was not built to be shut down."
Chris Kleponis/Polaris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Attorney General Bill Barr on Wednesday denied that systemic racism is a factor in the police shootings of unarmed Black men amid months of nationwide protests against racial injustice and police brutality, NBC News reports.

"I do think that there appears to be a phenomenon in the country where African-Americans feel that they're treated when they're stopped by police frequently as suspects before they are treated as citizens," Barr told CNN in a Wednesday interview. "I don't think that that necessarily reflects some deep-seated racism in police departments or in most police officers...I think people operate very frequently according to stereotypes and I think it takes extra precaution on the part of law enforcement to make sure we don't reduce people to stereotypes, we treat them as individuals."

Read the full story on NBCNews.com

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