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A common response to the outcry over police misconduct is to almost immediately blame the victim — he had a criminal record, he didn’t listen to the police, and so on.
But what happens when the victim to such misconduct is a United States senator with a clean record?
On Wednesday, Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina gave a heartfelt speech in which he spoke about some of the abuses by police that he, as a black man, had dealt with. The speech, Scott said, was meant to show that in some instances — he insisted that most cops mean well — police officers are in the wrong, targeting someone solely because of his skin color.
One time, Scott was stopped in Capitol Hill — after working for five years as either a congressman or a senator. A guard apparently told him, "The pin, I know. You, I don’t. Show me your ID."
"Later that evening, I received a phone call from his supervisor apologizing for that behavior," Scott said. "That is at least the third phone call that I’ve received from a supervisor or the chief of police since I’ve been in the Senate."
Scott said he had been stopped seven times by police officers in the course of one year as an elected official. "Was I speeding sometimes? Sure," Scott acknowledged. "But the vast majority of the time, I was pulled over for nothing more than driving a new car in the wrong neighborhood or some other reason just as trivial."
"I WAS PULLED OVER FOR NOTHING MORE THAN DRIVING A NEW CAR IN THE WRONG NEIGHBORHOOD OR SOME OTHER REASON JUST AS TRIVIAL"
"I was following a friend of mine, we had just left working out, and we were heading to Outback to grab a bite to eat at about 4 o’clock in the afternoon," Scott said. "He pulls out, I pull out right behind him. We’re driving down the road, and the blue lights come on. Officer pulls me into the median, and he starts telling me that he thinks perhaps the car is stolen."
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