WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, along with Senators Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) and Cory A. Booker (D-NJ), today sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray calling for racial profiling training for all law enforcement during the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter comes after reports of African American men being targeted by law enforcement based on the CDC’s guidance to wear face coverings. The letter mentions an incident in Wood River, Illinois, where two African American men wearing facemasks were followed by police in a Walmart.
“On April 3, the CDC recommended that individuals “wear[] face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.” Less than one week later, African American men began reporting incidents of racial profiling for adhering to the CDC’s guidance,” the Senators wrote.
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“With the ongoing public health emergency, it is more important than ever for law enforcement to build trust with communities of color. Accordingly, we urge your agencies to immediately provide training and guidance on bias, policing, and disproportionate or selective enforcement during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also urge your agencies to encourage the use of federal guidance to create model recommendations at the state and local level,” the Senators continued.
Joining Durbin, Harris, and Booker on the letter are Senators Ed Markey (D-MA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Ben Cardin (D-MD).
Full text of the letter is available here and below:
