Trump says police chokeholds sound ‘innocent’ and ‘perfect,’ but he is open to banning them

President Donald Trump downplayed the danger of police chokeholds on Friday even as he suggested he could support banning the practice during a nationwide outcry against brutality. 

In a Fox News interview, the president said that “the concept of chokeholds sounds so innocent and so perfect” in “one-on-one” struggles. He added that it becomes “a bit of a different story” if “it’s two-on-one.” 

“With that being said, it would be I think a very good thing that, generally speaking, it should be ended,” Trump said. Asked at what level of government a ban should take place, he said that “in some cases” the law could come from local officials, but the U.S. government could make “very strong recommendations” about the practice. 

The killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed Black man who died after police knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis last month, has sparked more than two weeks of demonstrations calling for officials to address police violence and systemic racism. Floyd’s pleas of “I can’t breathe” echoed the words of Eric Garner, a Black man killed in New York City when police held him in a banned chokehold in 2014. 

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/12/trump-discusses-police-chokehold-ban-after-george-floyd-protests.html