In a series of bizarre claims, Trump says 'more white people are killed' by the police in the US

United States President Donald Trump on July 14 claimed that “more white people” die while interacting with police officers than black people. This comes in the aftermath of the large-scale global protests against institutional racism and police brutality.

After George Floyd was knelt on and killed by an Officer Chauvin in Minneapolis, the US has roared “Black Lives Matter” across all cities, even amid rising cases of COVID-19.

"So are white people", statistics don't agree

While sitting down for an interview with CBS, Trump was asked why people of colour have a higher rate of dying at the hands of police officers. He responded with “so are white people”. He then repeated himself, and said again “so are white people. What a terrible question to ask. So are white people. More white people, by the way. More white people”.

Statistics don’t support the US president. Black people are more likely to be killed in police custody across the US. Based on “Fatal Encounters” - an independent organisation that looks into killings across the US, two researchers Gabriel Schwartz and Jaquelyn Jahn from Harvard University carved out a comparison in data falling in the bracket of 2013-2017. They found that racial inequalities persist in many parts of the country. In south-western US states, black people were killed almost thrice as much as white people. In Chicago, the rate was much higher, with black people six times more likely to be killed by police.

Another 2019 study found that young black men are at the highest risk of being killed by the police in the US.

The Washington Post did a similar follow up which found that even though white people are as killed as much as black Americans, the latter are shot more than the former. The found that even though the black population makes up 13 per cent of the US, they are twice as likely to be killed by the police.

Trump supports police

In the midst of the growing calls for defunding the police and setting up a social watch programme across the country, people have responded to Floyd’s murder quite intensely.

Trump, while referring to the US police forces said that they “do an incredible job in this country”.

"You can have a rogue, terrible cop, on occasion like you do in any industry, any business, in any profession," the president added.

The American Civil Liberties Union's Jeffery Robinson called Trump's comments racist in a statement. "Trump's racism is so absolute that he continues to refuse to give even a tacit acknowledgment to the epidemic of police violence against Black people in America," he said. Many others also feel that Trump is still yet to formally acknowledge police brutality against African Americans in the country.

In the aftermath of the protests, many Confederate symbols across the country have been forcibly removed by protesters. It is largely seen as the last remaining symbol of slavery in the country, especially in the southern states.

During the same interview, Trump implied that not every Confederate symbol is about slavery. “I know people that like the Confederate flag and they’re not thinking about slavery. It’s freedom of speech.”

Yesterday, on July 13, an analysis by the Washington Post claimed that Trump has made over 20,000 false since taking over as the president. On an average, this amounts to 23 lies in one day. And this claim that white people die more at the hands of the police could be another one.

(With inputs from Reuters)