The explosions of violence that have marked a broken trust between U.S. law enforcement and communities of color across the country echo the painful clashes that marked the early struggles of the American civil rights movement, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in an interview with USA TODAY Sunday.
“I really think the world is watching how we deal with these issues,’’ Lynch said in the wide-ranging interview here where she had traveled to commemorate Martin Luther King weekend events.
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Lynch said technology, specifically the speed of digital media and video-enabled smart phones, accelerated the recent scrutiny of police operations in ways that many had not anticipated. “Policing became front and center, because technology put it front and center,’’ Lynch said.
In much of the country where encounters between police and the public have not been in the forefront, “it’s been a real eye opener.”
Later, she spoke from the sanctuary of the 16th Street Baptist Church, a monument to the early civil rights movement where four young black girls were killed in a bombing by white supremacists in 1963.
The venue for Lynch’s final speech as attorney general was steeped in symbolism.
The first African American woman to hold the office, Lynch’s struggle to mend law enforcement relations with their communities has loomed since the day of her swearing-in. That day, Baltimore continued to be consumed by violent protests following the death of an unarmed black man in police custody.
A series of Justice inquiries into local law enforcement agencies — a total of 25 the during Obama administration — has found similar problems, including a scathing review of the Chicago Police Department issued last week in the waning days of the administration.
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