This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/17/us/politics/donald-trump-rally-is-called-chance-to-show-support-for-police.html

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Donald Trump Rally in Wisconsin Finds Support for the Police Donald Trump Rally in Wisconsin Finds Support for the Police
(about 2 hours later)
WEST BEND, Wis. — Forty miles north of the unrest in Milwaukee, residents here in West Bend welcomed Donald J. Trump’s visit to the area and his support of police officers who are once again facing scrutiny for the fatal shooting of a black man. WEST BEND, Wis. — Forty miles north of the racially charged unrest unfolding in Milwaukee, Donald J. Trump spoke to a nearly all-white crowd here on Tuesday, accusing Hillary Clinton of complicity in violence against police officers and claiming to “reject the bigotry” of Democrats, who he said were responsible for the plight of many black neighborhoods.
While Milwaukee grapples with the violence that erupted after the police shooting on Saturday, most people interviewed in this Republican stronghold said they were far more concerned that the police were being unfairly criticized. It was a dual and seemingly clashing message, as Mr. Trump, in some of his strongest language yet, told a crowd of 2,000 people here that he would restore “law and order” and that Mrs. Clinton “panders to and talks down to communities of color” to get their votes. He blamed her for pushing a narrative that he said had helped set off the demonstrations in Milwaukee and other cities after police-involved shootings.
And they said that Mr. Trump’s rally offered a chance to show support for a law-and-order presidency — and for officers who they feel have been unfairly maligned after the police fatally shot a black man who officials say had a gun. But Mr. Trump declined to hold a public event in Milwaukee, where 40 percent of residents are black, and instead decided to speak here, where 95 percent of residents are white and where many had said they hoped Mr. Trump’s rally would be a chance to celebrate the police.
Mr. Trump made good on the offer in his speech, accusing Hillary Clinton of pushing an anti-police “narrative” and saying that violent demonstrations are most harmful to the people in the communities themselves. “The violence and the riots and destruction that have taken place in Milwaukee is an assault on the right of all citizens to live in security and to live in peace,” said Mr. Trump, who has not held a campaign event aimed at black voters in their communities. “Law and order must be restored. It must be restored for the sake of all, but most especially for those policing in the affected communities, of which there are many. The main victims of these riots are law-abiding African-American citizens living in these neighborhoods.”
“She is against the police, believe me,” Mr. Trump said of Mrs. Clinton, adding that “the problem is not that there are too many police, the problem is that there are not enough police.” Using language aimed at reassuring people here that their way of life would be protected by his administration, Mr. Trump also vowed to increase the number of officers patrolling neighborhoods and to put an end to a “war on our police.” He repeatedly said that his policies would end the type of uprising happening in Milwaukee, and that Mrs. Clinton and others who peddled a “narrative” of “racist” officers shared responsibility for the unrest in Milwaukee. He added: “She is against the police, believe me. You know it and I know it, and guess what? She knows it.”
“Law and order must be restored,” Mr. Trump said. He argued that Democrats were to blame for much of the violence and economic struggles affecting inner cities, and that African-Americans had suffered under Democratic leaders in those communities.
The people of this suburb seemed receptive. Mr. Trump spoke at 10:07 p.m., three hours after the event’s scheduled start time. A campaign official said Mr. Trump had been delayed because he was taping an interview with Fox News in Milwaukee.
“I don’t think it is a problem — the whole ‘Black Lives Matter’ — that only black people are getting killed. That’s just not the case,” said Lori Griggs, 44, who lives near West Bend and planned to attend the Trump rally. “We should be supporting our police officers. I think that it has blown up every time that, you know, a black individual is killed. It’s blown up in the news. But you don’t hear about the whites that have been killed.” “The African-American community has been taken for granted for decades, and look how they are doing,” Mr. Trump said. “The Democratic Party has failed and betrayed the African-American community.”
Mr. Trump visited Milwaukee before his rally here but did not hold any public events in the city, choosing instead to meet privately with police officers and attend fund-raisers. Mr. Trump visited Milwaukee, which is still grappling with the violence that erupted after a police shooting on Saturday, before his rally here but did not hold any public events. Instead, he met with police officers and attended fund-raisers.
Jack Beck, 65, a retired bricklayer and a Trump supporter who lives in West Bend, said he planned to vote for Mr. Trump and did not blame him for making a low-key stop in Milwaukee, given the city’s racial tensions. Most people interviewed in West Bend, a Republican stronghold, said that they were concerned that the police were being unfairly criticized, and that Mr. Trump’s rally offered a chance to show support for a law-and-order presidency. They expressed support for the Milwaukee Police Department, saying it had been unfairly maligned after an officer fatally shot a black man who officials said had a gun.
“Every night in Milwaukee there is someone being shot and they make nothing of that until a cop is involved and then all of a sudden it’s always blamed on the cop,” said Mr. Beck, who said he hoped West Bend’s black population would not increase. He tied much of the unrest in Milwaukee to his belief that black residents do not want to work hard and instead want to use police killings to get handouts from the government. Jack Beck, 65, a retired bricklayer who lives in West Bend, said he planned to vote for Mr. Trump and did not blame him for making a low-key stop in Milwaukee, given the city’s racial tensions.
“If somebody is killed, they think we owe them something,” Mr. Beck said. “I don’t want to seem racist or nothing but the black heritage has been raised in a certain way that there’s no incentive to get out and work because all of a sudden you have five kids and there are no dads around.” “Every night in Milwaukee, there is someone being shot, and they make nothing of that until a cop is involved, and then all of a sudden it’s always blamed on the cop,” said Mr. Beck, who added that he hoped West Bend’s black population would not increase. He tied much of the unrest in Milwaukee to his belief that black residents do not want to work hard and instead want to use police killings to get handouts from the government.
Others believe that Mr. Trump, who during his campaign has not held any events aimed at black voters in their communities, is purposely choosing to avoid the people of Milwaukee, a city of nearly 600,000 where some 40 percent of residents are African-American, according to the 2010 census. In contrast, 95 percent of the people of West Bend are white and only 1 percent are black. “If somebody is killed, they think we owe them something,” Mr. Beck said. “I don’t want to seem racist or nothing, but the black heritage has been raised in a certain way that there’s no incentive to get out and work, because all of a sudden you have five kids and there are no dads around.”
In Milwaukee, residents are naturally more skeptical of Mr. Trump’s visit to the swing state and his focus on the suburbs. Others in this suburb said protesters had been wrongly targeting officers.
“Donald Trump is running a campaign where he is seeking to be the voice of angry white folks,” said Walter Bond, a local activist in Milwaukee and chief of staff for Teach For America Milwaukee. “So Donald Trump is here to sort of speak to those folks.” “I don’t think it is a problem — the whole ‘Black Lives Matter’ — that only black people are getting killed. That’s just not the case,” said Lori Griggs, 44, who lives near West Bend and said she was excited to attend the rally. “We should be supporting our police officers. I think that it has blown up every time that, you know, a black individual is killed. It’s blown up in the news. But you don’t hear about the whites that have been killed.”
Faithe Colas, 55, who lives in Sherman Park, the mostly African-American neighborhood in Milwaukee where the unrest exploded, said that in holding his rally in West Bend, Mr. Trump was courting a community where he will be warmly received. However, some said they believed that Mr. Trump had purposefully chosen to avoid Milwaukee and to focus on a crowd that would embrace him.
“I don’t think Milwaukee is the kind of city that would embrace a visit from Trump at the moment,” she said. “Donald Trump is running a campaign where he is seeking to be the voice of angry white folks,” said Walter Bond, a local activist in Milwaukee and chief of staff for Teach for America Milwaukee. “So Donald Trump is here to sort of speak to those folks.”
Jim D’Angelo, 52, a Republican who lives in West Bend and works in sales, said he planned to vote for Mr. Trump and believed the candidate had been mischaracterized as a racist and a misogynist by his opponents. Jim D’Angelo, 52, a Republican who lives in West Bend and works in sales, said he planned to vote for Mr. Trump and believed the candidate had been mischaracterized by his opponents as a racist and a misogynist.
“There’s no racial motivation to what he is doing here,” Mr. D’Angelo said. “He’s coming to Washington County, which is a Republican stronghold. Republicans win this county all the time. So he’s coming to beef up his base.”“There’s no racial motivation to what he is doing here,” Mr. D’Angelo said. “He’s coming to Washington County, which is a Republican stronghold. Republicans win this county all the time. So he’s coming to beef up his base.”
Cindy Limburg, 64, an accountant who lives in West Bend, has not decided whom she will vote for but said she was scared by the tensions that accompany Mr. Trump’s rallies. She grew up in Detroit and left at 19 to escape racial tensions that she said plagued the city. She settled in West Bend in 1991. Cindy Limburg, 64, an accountant who lives in West Bend, said that she had not decided whom she would vote for, but that she was scared by the tensions that accompanied Mr. Trump’s rallies. She grew up in Detroit and left at 19 to escape racial strife that she said plagued the city. She settled in West Bend in 1991.
“I am concerned about the violence that seems to be circling him and everywhere he goes,” she said. “I was in high school during the ’60s riots. I worked really, really hard to overcome the racial and social stigmas that go along with the Detroit attitudes and the big city environments. And what I am seeing in Milwaukee breaks my heart because it brings me back to back all those awful memories of what occurred back then.” “I am concerned about the violence that seems to be circling him and everywhere he goes,” she said. “I was in high school during the ’60s riots. I worked really, really hard to overcome the racial and social stigmas that go along with the Detroit attitudes and the big-city environments. And what I am seeing in Milwaukee breaks my heart, because it brings me back to all those awful memories of what occurred back then.”