Donald Trump Decries 'War on Police,' Says Democrats Take Blacks for Granted

WEST BEND, WI — Donald Trump came to Wisconsin on Tuesday, a state that soundly rejected his candidacy in the primary, and tried to shore up his prospects among Republican voters with a "law and order" speech.

He also said the Democratic Party has "betrayed African Americans."

Trump visited with police officers in Milwaukee, which endured a weekend of arson fires and rioting after a fatal police shooting, and spoke with Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Jr. before heading about 40 miles north to West Bend for a rally and speech.

He was introduced by Gov. Scott Walker to a mostly white crowd of about 2,000 people.

"The violence, riots and destruction that have taken place in Milwaukee are an assault on the right of all citizens to live in security and peace," Trump said. "Law and order must be restored. It must be restored for the sake of all, but most especially the sake of those living in the affected communities.

"The main victims of these riots are law-abiding African-American citizens living in these neighborhoods. It is their jobs, their homes, their schools and communities which will suffer as a result."

West Bend, the county seat of Washington County, is 95 percent white. About 1 percent of its 31,000 residents are African-American. The county is a reliable Republican stronghold.

Trump didn't speak publicly at all during his time in Milwaukee Tuesday, where more than 40 percent of its 500,000-plus residents are African-American.

He didn't take the stage in West Bend until about 10 p.m. His campaign said he was delayed by his fund-raising visits and an interview with Fox News. In the Fox interview, Trump shared his thoughts on the violence that beset Sherman Park.

"We have to obey the laws or we don't have a country. We have a case where good people are out there trying to get people to sort of calm down and they're not calming down and we have our police who do a phenomenal job."

Trump was asked in the interview if the police officer did the right thing in shooting 23-year-old Sylville K. Smith on Saturday. He mentioned Smith's gun, which was reported stolen from a Waukesha residence, was pointed at the officer's head, but no police official has said this.

"Well I guess you know if you believe a gun was pointed at his head and maybe ready to be fired, what is a person supposed to do? You're supposed to talk him out of it — so I would think so, we'll find out because they have a tape as I understand but the gun was pointed at his head supposedly ready to be fired. I think that, who can have a problem with that? ... Now that's what the narrative is, maybe it's not true. If it is true, people shouldn't be rioting."

Trump expanded upon those thoughts in his Tuesday night speech.

"The problem in our poorest communities is not that there are too many police, the problem is that there are not enough police," Trump said. "More law enforcement, more community engagement, more effective policing is what our country needs. Just like Hillary Clinton is against the miners, she is against the police. You know it, and I know it."

Trump's speech echoed his July acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, in which he declared himself the "law and order" candidate. Again he took aim at President Obama and violence in his hometown of Chicago, citing the number of people shot in the city, and this time he connected the violence to recent events in Milwaukee.

Trump pressed the narrative that there's a "war on our police."

"Those peddling the narrative of cops as a racist force in our society – a narrative supported with a nod by my opponent – share directly in the responsibility for the unrest in Milwaukee, and many other places within our country," Trump said. "They have fostered the dangerous anti-police atmosphere in America.

"Every time we rush to judgment with false facts and narratives – whether in Ferguson or in Baltimore – and foment further unrest, we do a direct disservice to poor African-American residents who are hurt by the high crime in their communities."

In Milwaukee, protesters who fed off rumors that Smith was shot in the back, turned violent, setting fire to eight businesses, throwing rocks and bricks at police, and shooting at police cars. While body-camera video from the officer who fired the fatal shots, also an African-American, has yet to be released, authorities say Smith clearly was holding a weapon when he was shot in the chest and arm.

The ATF has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to arrests in the arson fires, which destroyed a gas station, grocery store, auto parts store, bank, beauty supply store and a beverage wholesaler.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Police Chief Edward Flynn urged people not to rush to judgment about the shooting until the facts can be laid out for the public. They also accused agitators from Chicago of fomenting the violence, which resulted in more than two dozen arrests and 11 injured police officers.

Trump seized on this, too, and connected the looters and lawless to Clinton.

"Our job is not to make life more comfortable for the rioter, the looter, the violent disruptor. Our job is to make life more comfortable for the African-American parent who wants their kids to be able to safely walk the streets. Or the senior citizen waiting for a bus. Or the young child walking home from school," Trump said. "The Hillary Clinton agenda hurts poor people the most. ...

Watch Trump's West Bend Rally

"I am asking for the vote of every African-American citizen struggling in our country today who wants a different future. ... The Democratic Party has failed and betrayed the African-American community. Democratic crime policies, education policies, and economic policies have produced only more crime, more broken homes, and more poverty."

Trump rattled off statistics about Milwaukee as evidence Democrats can't solve the problems:

• killings increased 69 percent last year
• the poverty rate is nearly double the national average
• four in 10 African-American men 25 to 54 do not have a job
• four in 10 single-mother households live in poverty

"The Democratic Party has taken the votes of African-Americans for granted," Trump said. "They’ve just assumed they’ll get your support and done nothing in return for it."

A Marquette University law school poll conducted Aug. 4 to Aug. 7 shows Trump down 15 points to Hillary Clinton among likely voters and down 10 points to Clinton among registered voters in Wisconsin. In recent national polling, Clinton leads head-to-head match-ups against Trump, with the Democrat holding 47.8 percent support compared to 41 percent for the New York businessman, according to averages compiled by RealClear Politics.

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