NBC News reports:
Bloomberg again claimed that he reined in the use of stop-and-frisk after it got “out of control” when he was mayor of New York. “We let it get out of control, and when I realized that, I cut it back by 95 percent, and I’ve apologized and asked for forgiveness,” he said.
This is still a false representation. Bloomberg championed and expanded the stop-and-frisk policing practice — the strategy that gave police the authority to detain people suspected of committing a crime, which led to a practice of stopping mostly black and Hispanic men — during his three terms of mayor.
The practice was scaled back significantly thanks to a 2013 court order declaring the policy unconstitutional, not Bloomberg’s change of heart.
Bloomberg did not “cut back” stop and frisk. He continues to lie about this, and it’s disturbing.
A judge ruled stop and frisk unconstitutional. Bloomberg fought for *years* defending the policy, and only reversed course when he decided to run for president.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 26, 2020
“I cannot forgive Mayor Bloomberg,” said a plaintiff in the federal lawsuit against New York’s stop-and-frisk policy. “If you aren’t able to protect the constitutional rights of New Yorkers, how can you protect the constitutional rights of all Americans?”https://t.co/lzDqIpqrFb
— NPR (@NPR) February 27, 2020
Michael Bloomberg on stop-and-frisk: “It was my mistake, and I apologize for it. I’ve asked for forgiveness. But I can’t rewrite history and I’ve got to make sure we don’t do it in the future.” https://t.co/KzKl4e3jIN #CNNTownHall pic.twitter.com/ORjhmamhhW
— CNN (@CNN) February 27, 2020