3dGameMan
08-17-2005, 06:36 AM
Toronto councilor defends plan to curb gun violence: ~source (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050814/ts_afp/uspopulationdetroit_050814210312)
http://images.ctv.ca/archives/CTVNews/img2/20050816/160_michael_thompson_0508162.jpg
CTV.ca News Staff
A Toronto city councillor was busy Tuesday defending a controversial plan he proposed on how to curb the recent plague of gun violence in the city.
Councillor Michael Thompson said Monday that police should be allowed to "target" young black men at random as part of a crackdown on guns.
Thompson, who's black, said a large percentage of the guns being used and a large number of victims are in the black community; so that's where police need to focus.
The councillor said reaction his office received via emails and phone calls on Tuesday has been mostly positive; and he pointed out that, as a black man, he himself could be stopped under his own plan.
But some are condemning Thompson's plan as a form of racial profiling.
"He's stirred up a huge amount of racism," Toronto Police Services Chair Pam O'Connell told CTV Toronto's Alicia Kay Markson.
"Scaring all of our black youth is not about getting at the thugs. It's about racial profiling. It's very stupid of him to do that and I think he needs to apologize to the community immediately."
Thompson defended his proposal Tuesday:
"I've never asked for racial profiling. That has never been what I discussed," he told CTV Toronto. "What I had said is that we ought to basically provide support to the police that are out in the community trying to apprehend young men with guns."
Thompson added he's not calling for police to pull people over just because they're black, but because gun violence is affecting the black community.
Black police officers attending the National Black Police association's 33rd conference in Toronto called Thompson's plan a violation of human rights.
"You cannot stop every black person on the road and call them a criminal," police officer Wendell Hendry from Kent, U.K., told CTV Toronto. "What he's doing is calling every young black male a criminal."
Nashville, Tenn. policeman Clifford Mann said his city would never, "for one second," tolerate a remark such as the one uttered by Thompson.
Speaking at the conference, Toronto police Insp. David McLeod defended the councillor.
"I know he's referred to as an *****, and I'll tell you right out, in his defence, he's not an *****. He's a very bright man," McLeod told the officers. "(He made) an ill advised, ill-conceived and perhaps an *****ic comment, but he's not an *****." ...
http://images.ctv.ca/archives/CTVNews/img2/20050816/160_michael_thompson_0508162.jpg
CTV.ca News Staff
A Toronto city councillor was busy Tuesday defending a controversial plan he proposed on how to curb the recent plague of gun violence in the city.
Councillor Michael Thompson said Monday that police should be allowed to "target" young black men at random as part of a crackdown on guns.
Thompson, who's black, said a large percentage of the guns being used and a large number of victims are in the black community; so that's where police need to focus.
The councillor said reaction his office received via emails and phone calls on Tuesday has been mostly positive; and he pointed out that, as a black man, he himself could be stopped under his own plan.
But some are condemning Thompson's plan as a form of racial profiling.
"He's stirred up a huge amount of racism," Toronto Police Services Chair Pam O'Connell told CTV Toronto's Alicia Kay Markson.
"Scaring all of our black youth is not about getting at the thugs. It's about racial profiling. It's very stupid of him to do that and I think he needs to apologize to the community immediately."
Thompson defended his proposal Tuesday:
"I've never asked for racial profiling. That has never been what I discussed," he told CTV Toronto. "What I had said is that we ought to basically provide support to the police that are out in the community trying to apprehend young men with guns."
Thompson added he's not calling for police to pull people over just because they're black, but because gun violence is affecting the black community.
Black police officers attending the National Black Police association's 33rd conference in Toronto called Thompson's plan a violation of human rights.
"You cannot stop every black person on the road and call them a criminal," police officer Wendell Hendry from Kent, U.K., told CTV Toronto. "What he's doing is calling every young black male a criminal."
Nashville, Tenn. policeman Clifford Mann said his city would never, "for one second," tolerate a remark such as the one uttered by Thompson.
Speaking at the conference, Toronto police Insp. David McLeod defended the councillor.
"I know he's referred to as an *****, and I'll tell you right out, in his defence, he's not an *****. He's a very bright man," McLeod told the officers. "(He made) an ill advised, ill-conceived and perhaps an *****ic comment, but he's not an *****." ...