Paul Blames de Blasio for 'Telling Police to Get Involved' with People Selling Untaxed Cigarettes

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said there needs to be a balance between recognizing that African-Americans are discriminated against in the criminal justice system and blaming all cops for that.

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“I think that our police do by enlarge an excellent job. They are like the rest of the public — 98 percent, 99 percent are doing a great job. They are out every day risking their lives,” Paul told CNN yesterday, stressing that there was “no justification” for violent attacks on police.

“And so, I think there are just separate issues. I do think that there is an unease in our country, though. The violent people are an aberration. The violent people killing cops and things like that, which is awful, that’s an aberration. But there’s a lot of also just peaceful people out there that are — they feel unhappy and feel like that justice is not color blind.”

Paul noted that Martin Luther King “talked about there being two Americas: There are still people who feel like they are poor, they are unemployed and that they — everywhere they turn, there is a civil fine for this or for that.”

“In fact, I said repeatedly in New York, I blame the politicians. So, the same way the police are unhappy with de Blasio, I’m unhappy with de Blasio also because he was the one telling the police to get involved with people selling cigarettes that were not taxed properly,” he said in reference to Eric Garner.

The senator said Bill de Blasio “mistakes cause and effect” when talking about how he needs to teach his son to “take special care” in any encounters with police.

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“I’ve said over and over again that there is a racial outcome to the war on drugs. But I’ve also said over and over again, I don’t think the police are targeting black kids. What I say is that the war on drugs has led the over-enforcement in certain communities,” Paul said. “So, far example, white kids are using illegal drugs, so are black kids. I don’t think the police said, oh, let’s go arrest black kids. I think because of where people live and where crime occurs, that there had been a disproportionate amount of black kids arrested.”

“So, I understand the sentiment of people in the African-American community who feel like justice is not color blind. But I don’t blame the police officer for saying, oh, the police officers are targeting them. I blame the politicians for writing these laws such that we’ve gone overboard with nonviolent crime.”

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