Tim Scott says he was targeted by Capitol Police

Sen. Tim ScottTim ScottTrump to address Family Research Council summit Skip the hashtags, how Conservatives can talk to Black people. Highlighting contributions of entrepreneurs, startup companies MORE (R-S.C.) in a dramatic floor speech on Wednesday said he had been targeted by police because of his race, including at the U.S. Capitol.

 

Scott, one of two African-American senators and the only black GOP senator, said he once was stopped by a Capitol Police officer as he was walking into an office building last year, despite wearing a pin that identifies senators.

 

"The officer looked at me, a little attitude, and said, 'The pin I know — you I don't. Show me your ID,'" Scott said. "Later that evening I received a phone call from his supervisor apologizing." 

 

He said it's at least the third time he's gotten a call from a supervisor or chief of police since he joined the Senate.

"I do not know many African-American men who do not have a very similar story to tell, no matter the profession, no matter the income, no matter their disposition in life," he said. 

 

"I have ... felt the pressure applied by the scales of justice when they are slanted. I have felt the anger, the frustration, the sadness and the humiliation that comes with feeling like you're being targeted for nothing more than being just yourself."

 

Scott's comments came during a week in which political figures on both sides of the aisle have discussed race in frank terms.

 

Two black men were killed by police in separate incidents last week in Louisiana and Minnesota. In Dallas one week ago, a sniper shot and killed five police officers at a demonstration sparked by those two killings. Police said the sniper was targeting white people, and white officers specifically.