[The Hill] Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) said Sunday that rhetoric from the White House gives "permission" to people who are "prone to being racist."
Her comments on CNN's "State of the Union" were in response to questions regarding the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man killed in February.
Bottoms said the circumstances surrounding Arbery’s death are part of a larger issue around the country.
"The rhetoric that we hear coming out of the White House in many ways, I think many who are prone to being racist are given permission to do it in an overt way in a way we wouldn't [otherwise] see in 2020," she said.
Bottoms said if local leadership fails in cities across the country, the Justice Department is supposed to step in and "make sure people are appropriately prosecuted." |