In the wake of two deadly police shootings of black men, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is calling for criminal justice reform.
“The violence that killed Alton Sterling and Philando Castile has become an all too common occurrence for people of color and IT. MUST. STOP,” the Democratic presidential hopeful tweeted Thursday morning.
Today African-Americans are almost four times as likely to experience the use of force during encounters with the police. #PhilandoCastille
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 7, 2016
Alton Sterling was shot and killed by police outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, La., Tuesday morning. Wednesday night, Philando Castile was fatally shot by a police officer in a Minneapolis suburb during a traffic stop.
Both were black men, and their deaths come in the wake of numerous other high profile killings of black men by police.
“We need real criminal justice reform so that people can walk down the street without worrying about whether they’ll get harassed or shot,” Sanders said. “As South Carolina Rep. Wendell Gilliard proclaimed: ‘Enough is enough of our police officers targeting people of color.'”
Sanders has been outspoken on police shootings and criminal justice before.
At a rally in Bakersfield, Calif., he addressed his policy on officer-involved shootings.
“If there is a police related shooting, that should trigger an immediate investigation with the Department of Justice,” Sanders said in May.
The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the Sterling shooting. In the Castile death, the Justice Department said it is “assessing” the situation, but no formal investigation has yet been announced.
