South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, the only black man in the Senate, gave a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday about being targeted by police for being a black man—both before he became a senator and during. In fact, Scott said in the span of one year as a senator, he was stopped by police a total seven times for trivial reasons. Embarrassingly enough, one of the times he was stopped because a police officer didn't believe he was a senator.
Before sharing his relationship and experiences to law enforcement as a black man, as well as the experiences of other black men in his life, Scott talked about some of the black men who have been killed by police.
He mentioned how he was devastated by the deaths of Eric Garner, Walter Scott, and most recently Philando Castile. "These are people lost forever...fathers, brothers, sons," Scott said about the men. Scott pushed back on people who say the men killed were criminals with criminal histories by saying having a record "should not sentence you to death," before launching into his own experiences in which being a senator hasn't made him immune to police targeting.
The most glaring examples Scott gave include one time a police officer followed him long enough that he pulled him over after making a fourth turn. In another instance, a Capitol Police officer stopped him as he tried to enter the Capitol despite Scott wearing a pin only given to senators.
"'The pin I know. You, I don't. Show me your ID,'" the officer said, according to Scott.
Scott said he received an apologetic phone call from the officer's supervisor later on, adding it was "at least" the third time he had gotten that kind of call.
"So while I thank God I have not endured bodily harm, I have, however, felt the pressure applied by the scales of justice when they are slanted," Scott said.
During the speech, he also expressed having felt "anger" and "frustration" because of these encounters:
The speech was the second in a series of speeches about law enforcement. Tomorrow Scott will give a final speech about policies and solutions.
