Rev. Al Sharpton spoke out against President Trump on Friday after he encouraged police to be more aggressive while arresting “thugs.”
“When you see these towns and when you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in, rough, and I said, ‘Please don’t be too nice,” Trump told police officers in New York on Friday.
As if the reprehensible statement by President Donald Trump encouraging police violence wasn’t… https://t.co/bUWIQGiSGP
— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) July 29, 2017
Sharpton joined a chorus of other civil rights activists working to end police brutality by condemning the president’s comments and use of the term “paddy wagon.”
“Can you imagine if President Obama had made a racial slur?” Sharpton said during his keynote address at his National Action Network’s weekly rally on Saturday.
Addressing #Trump praising police violence to an audience of laughing cops in my keynote address at NAN’s weekly Saturday Action Rally. pic.twitter.com/RLYZ251k7p
— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) July 29, 2017
The slur, referring to a police car, dates back to the 19th century when Irish-Catholic refugees came to America. The word “paddy” has long been an offensive word used to describe Irishmen.
