US civil rights leader Al Sharpton calls for an end to stop and search in UK
Reverend Al Sharpton has called for an end to the use of stop and search in the UK, accusing the police of disproportionately targeting people from ethnically diverse backgrounds.
The US civil rights activist said he fears unless urgent reform is instituted in UK policing, Britain will see its own version of the George Floyd case.
Mr Floyd was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis in May 2020 in a killing that sparked widespread protests across the America, and the world.
Speaking on Sky News’ Beth Rigby Interviews, Rev Sharpton asked: “How do you explain the disproportionate amount of citizens that are black, or people of colour, being stopped and searched to whites in this country?
“How do you explain in COVID, when everybody is locked down, people of colour, and blacks in particular, are stopped and dealt with and arrested, more than whites?”
Rev Sharpton, who has been a vocal campaigner in the US for decades, added: “There is a systemic problem, and I think the studies – the data – has shown that. That is why it is critical that we get ahead of it, and deal with it, before you end up with a George Floyd.
“Stop and search, it is inherently set up in a situation, that we found – when they called it in America ‘stop-and-frisk’ – that it was disproportionately done in areas where blacks and browns were. When you have a disproportionate police strategy, you must eliminate that strategy.”
The reverend also highlighted the issue of police brutality in his home country, citing the recent case of Tyre Nichols – a black man who was beaten by five black police officers in the city of Memphis, Tennessee and died three days later.
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“The thing that was troubling to me about the killing of this young man, is that Tyre was beat to death by five black policemen minutes away from where Martin Luther King was killed,” he said.
“Martin Luther King was in Memphis fighting for black city workers. I could argue the case they may not have even been on an elite squad if it hadn’t been for Dr King.
“So, we are fighting systems as well as race, because I don’t believe those black cops would have beat a white kid like that, because they knew the penalty.”
‘The police are not being policed’
However, Sharpton didn’t view the situation in America as without hope, saying he wanted reforms to US policing at a federal level, with the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
“I think there is the broader question of police being not policed,” he said. “I think that white and black police have been infested with the same kind of power trips that ‘I don’t have to be held accountable’.
Rev Sharpton speaking at a Martin Luther King Jr Day event in Harlem, New York
“Which is why the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act makes them accountable. Why does that make them accountable? Because it removes qualified immunity.”
Qualified immunity in the US protects police officers and other officials from civil lawsuits except in very rare circumstances.
“If a policeman knows he can lose his property, his house, his car, for his actions, his family would say, ‘wait a minute, you’ve got to be more careful and follow the letter of the law’. There’s no skin in the game,” Rev Sharpton said.
The reverend believes there is now sufficient pressure on officials in the Senate to pass the act, which failed to pass in 2021.
‘Imagine if Dr King had given up’
Asked if he thought Tyre Nichols’ death could be a catalyst for change in America, he said: “I believe that Tyre’s death can be that. I believe the same with George Floyd, where we did get the executive order. I always have hope, no matter how bad it looks.
“You must remember when the historic March on Washington happened in 1963, when Martin Luther King made his speech ‘I Have A Dream’, two months later, they bombed a church in Birmingham, Alabama – 16th Street Baptist Church – and killed four little girls.
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The funeral of Tyre Nichols has taken place in Tennessee. The 29 year old died after he was badly beaten by police officers in Memphis.
“There’s always going to be a reason to give up. But you have to keep going. Suppose that [Nelson] Mandela had given up – 27 years in jail – but South Africa ended up being a democratic one man, one vote.
“Suppose if Dr King had given up, we never would have had a Barack Obama or Kamala Harris. So every time I get discouraged, I think of people that face greater odds than we have and say if they could hold on, we can hold on.
“Victory is certain. I don’t know the date or the time, but I know we will win, and I won’t stop fighting.”
Asked if lasting change could come in his lifetime, Reverend Al Sharpton responded: “In my lifetime, hopefully. But if not, my children, they’ll say in their lifetime, or my grandchildren in their lifetime, that we won. And my dad or my granddad was part of the victory. They will not say he quit and gave up.”
Donald Trump has agreed to send “top of the line weapons” to NATO to support Ukraine – and threatened Russia with “severe” tariffs if it doesn’t agree to end the war.
Speaking with NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte during a meeting at the White House, the US president said: “We’ve made a deal today where we are going to be sending them weapons, and they’re going to be paying for them.
“This is billions of dollars worth of military equipment which is going to be purchased from the United States, going to NATO, and that’s going to be quickly distributed to the battlefield.”
Pic: Reuters
Weapons being sent include surface-to-air Patriot missile systems and batteries, which Ukraine has asked for to defend itself from Russian air strikes.
Mr Trump also said he was “very unhappy” with Russia, and threatened “severe tariffs” of “about 100%” if there isn’t a deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days.
The White House added that the US would put “secondary sanctions” on countries that buy oil from Russia if an agreement was not reached.
Later on Monday, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Mr Trump and said he was “grateful” for the US president’s “readiness to help protect our people’s lives”.
After criticising Vladimir Putin’s “desire to drag it out”, he said he appreciated “preparing a new decision on Patriots for Ukraine” – and added Kyiv is “working on major defence agreements with America”.
It comes after weeks of frustration from Mr Trump over Mr Putin’s refusal to agree to an end to the conflict, with the Russian leader telling the US president he would “not back down” from Moscow’s goals in Ukraine at the start of the month.
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Trump threatens Russia with ‘severe’ tariffs’
During the briefing on Monday, Mr Trump said he had held calls with Mr Putin where he would think “that was a nice phone call”, but then “missiles are launched into Kyiv or some other city, and that happens three or four times”.
“I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy,” he added.
Earlier this year, Mr Trump told Mr Zelenskyy “you’re gambling with World War Three” in a fiery White House meeting, and suggested Ukraine started the war against Russia as he sought to negotiate an end to the conflict.
After Mr Trump’s briefing, Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev said on Telegram: “If this is all that Trump had in mind to say about Ukraine today, then all the steam has gone out.”
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Meanwhile, Mr Zelenskyy met with US special envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv, where they “discussed the path to peace” by “strengthening Ukraine’s air defence, joint production, and procurement of defence weapons in collaboration with Europe”.
He thanked both the envoy for the visit and Mr Trump “for the important signals of support and the positive decisions for both our countries”.
US
Trump is clearly fed up with Putin – but will his shift in tone force Russia to the negotiating table?
As ever, there is confusion and key questions are left unanswered, but Donald Trump’s announcement on Ukraine and Russia today remains hugely significant.
His shift in tone and policy on Ukraine is stark. And his shift in tone (and perhaps policy) on Russia is huge.
Ever since Mr Trump returned to the White House he has flatly refused to side with Ukraine over the Russian invasion.
He has variously blamed Ukraine for the invasion and blamed Joe Biden for the invasion, but has never been willing to accept that Russia is the aggressor and that Ukraine has a legitimate right to defend itself.
Today, all that changed. In a clear signal that he is fed up with Vladimir Putin and now fully recognises the need to help Ukraine defend itself, he announced the US will dramatically increase weapons supplies to Kyiv.
Pic: Reuters
But, in keeping with his transactional nature and in a reflection of the need to keep his isolationist “America-First” base on side, he has framed this policy shift as a multi-billion dollar “deal” in which America gains financially.
American weapons are to be “sold” to NATO partners in Europe who will then either transfer them to Ukraine or use them to bolster their own stockpiles as they transfer their own existing stocks to Kyiv.
“We’ve made a deal today,” the president said in the Oval Office. “We are going to be sending them weapons, and they are paying for them. We are manufacturing, they are going to be paying for it. Our meeting last month was very successful… these are wealthy nations.”
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What will Trump’s weapons deal mean for Ukraine?
This appears to be a clever framing of the “deal”. Firstly, America has always benefited financially by supplying weapons to Ukraine because much of the investment has been in American factories, American jobs and American supply chains.
While the details are not entirely clear, the difference now appears to be that the weapons would be bought by the Europeans or by NATO as an alliance.
The Americans are the biggest contributor to NATO, and so if the alliance is buying the weapons, America too will be paying, in part, for the weapons it is selling.
However, if the weapons are being bought by individual NATO members to replenish their own stocks, then it may be the case that the US is not paying.
NATO officials referred all questions on this issue to the White House, which has not yet provided clarity to Sky News.
It is also not yet clear what type of weapons will be made available and whether it will include offensive, as well defensive, munitions.
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Will Trump’s deal make a difference?
A key element of the package will likely be Patriot missile batteries, 10 to 15 of which are believed to be currently in Europe.
Under this deal, it is understood that some of them will be added to the six or so batteries believed to be presently in Ukraine. New ones would then be purchased from US manufacturers to backfill European stocks. A similar arrangement may be used for other weapons.
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The president also issued the Russian leader with an ultimatum, saying that Putin had 50 days to make a peace deal or else face 100% “secondary tariffs”. It’s thought this refers to a plan to tariff, or sanction, third countries that supply Russia with weapons and buy Russian oil.
This, the Americans hope, will force those countries to apply pressure on Russia.
But the 50-day kicking of the can down the road also gives Russia space to prevaricate. So, a few words of caution: first, the Russians are masters of prevarication. Second, Trump tends to let deadlines slip. And third, we all know Trump can flip-flop on his position repeatedly.
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‘Trump sides with the Ukrainian cause’
Maybe the most revealing aspect of all this came when a reporter asked Mr Trump: “How far are you willing to go if Putin sends more bombs in the coming days?”
“Don’t ask me questions like that…”
Mr Trump doesn’t really know what to do if Mr Putin continues to take him for a ride.
Mr Biden, before him, supplied Ukraine with the weapons to continue fighting.
If Mr Trump wants to end this, he may need to provide Ukraine with enough weapons to win.
But that would prolong, or even escalate, a war he wants to end now.
There’s the predicament.
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