At the second day of the U.S. Senate confirmation hearing for President Barack Obama’s attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch, a witness called to testify about Lynch’s qualifications and character took time to criticize the man who currently holds the position, Eric Holder.
The day before, U.S. senators in the Judiciary Committee questioned Lynch about her stance on issues ranging from Obama’s immigration policies, to the legalization of marijuana. Some Republican senators also took the opportunity to accuse Holder of turning the Justice Department into a tool to fulfill the president’s political agenda.
On Thursday, senators called on Lynch’s former colleagues and outside experts to speak about her abilities.
Milwaukee, Wis., police sheriff David Clarke, Jr., attacked Holder’s record to discuss what he wanted Lynch to change, if she were to be confirmed. Clarke blasted Holder for fomenting anti-cop sentiment following the events in Ferguson, Mo., where an unarmed black teen Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer last summer.
“The incendiary rhetoric used by Eric Holder created a pathway for a false narrative that then became the rallying cry for cop haters across America,” Clarke said.
Public outrage over Brown’s death prompted national conversations about race and police use-of-force. Some police critics have charged that law enforcement breeds a culture of brutality and racism toward minorities.
Clarke, who is black, cried foul on that idea. “The accusation has been made that our community’s finest systematically engage in the practice of targeting young black men because of the color of their skin. That claim is patently false,” he said.
