U.S. attorney general: Law enforcement not systematically racist

WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr, the nation’s top law enforcement officer, said Sunday he does not believe that the country’s “law enforcement system is systemically racist” as protesters continue to demand policing reforms in the wake of George Floyd’s killing under police restraint.

“I think there's racism in the United States still, but I don't think that the law enforcement system is systemically racist,” Barr told CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” “I understand ... the distrust, however, of the African-American community given the history in this country. I think we have to recognize that for most of our history, our institutions were explicitly racist. Since the 1960s, I think we've been in a phase of reforming our institutions and making sure that they're in sync with our laws.”

Asked if he believed reforms were working, Barr said “reform is a difficult task, but I think it is working and progress has been made.”

Barr repeatedly defended President Donald Trump’s order to place 1,600 U.S. military troops on standby near the nation’s capital over the past week, as three former top military generals appearing on the Sunday talk show circuit issued a rare rebuke to Trump’s response to the protests.

Pentagon officials said last Thursday the troops were to be sent back to their home bases starting last Friday. Trump on Sunday tweeted that he ordered National Guard troops that were relocated from other states “to start the process of withdrawing from Washington, D.C.” following a weekend of peaceful protests.

Retired Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, a former chairman of the military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, appearing on Fox News Sunday, took issue with Trump’s threat last Monday to deploy U.S. troops to quell protests if state governors did not fully deploy their national guard troops. 

"We have a military to fight our enemies, not our own people,” Mullen said.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a Republican, who also served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1989 to 1993, told CNN’s “State of the Union” that Trump has “drifted away” from the Constitution and he plans on voting for Trump’s Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden.

“He lies. He lies about things. And he gets away with it, because people will not hold him accountable,” Powell said of Trump.

Trump, in a pair of tweets after Powell’s interview aired, called the military veteran “overrated” and “a real stiff.”

Retired Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Barack Obama, told ABC News’ “This Week” that he was concerned that Trump’s actions “would put the active duty military in a position where its relationship with the American people would be adversely affected.”

“My generation of military leaders, who entered right after the Vietnam War, spent the majority of our careers ... trying to rebuild our relationship with the American people," Dempsey said. "I felt it important to try to keep that relationship sound and solid ... inflammatory language can be an impediment to that."

Also Sunday, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced that Senate Democrats will unveil new legislation on Monday called the Justice and Policing Act.  Schumer, the Senate minority leader, speaking at a news conference in Manhattan, said the bill will focus on accountability, transparency, training and policy.  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said the chamber will examine the issue of policing, but has not endorsed any specific proposals.

House Democrats on Saturday announced their plans to unveil a package of policing reform bills on Monday. The proposed legislation would make it easier for federal authorities to file charges against police for misconduct and excessive use of force and enable victims to sue officers for damages, according to a summary of the bill.

The bill contains several measures to document and curb race and religious profiling and abuse, and would ban police use of chokeholds and no-knock warrants for drug cases, require officers to wear body cameras, and create a National Police Misconduct Registry.

It would also give the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division new subpoena power to conduct “pattern and practice” investigations of local police departments and offer grants to state attorneys general to create an independent investigation process for police misconduct or excessive use of force.

And the legislation includes an anti-lynching act that would make it a federal crime to conspire to violate hate crimes laws — a measure Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) blocked when Senate Democrats attempted to pass it by unanimous consent.

With Michael O'Keeffe and Tom Brune