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Sanders: US Justice Department Must Probe Every Killing by Police Officers

© AP Photo / Carolyn KasterDemocratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at Georgetown University in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015, about the meaning of "democratic socialism" and other topics
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at Georgetown University in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015, about the meaning of democratic socialism and other topics - Sputnik International
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Bernie Sanders told a rally on the eve of the South Carolina primary election that the US Department of Justice must be tasked with investigating every killing of a civilian by police officers across the United States.

US Police Killings in 2015 - Sputnik International
US Police Killings in 2015
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US Department of Justice must be tasked with investigating every killing of a civilian by police officers across the United States, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders told a rally on the eve of the South Carolina primary election.

“In every instance, we will have a Department of Justice investigation,” Sanders told the rally on Friday night at Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina. “We are going to demilitarize police departments so that they do not look like an occupying army.”

Opinion polls show 75 percent of Democratic voters in South Carolina supporting former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sanders’ rival.

The senator consequently focused in his speech on issues of prime concern to the 40-million strong African American community.

“Whites and blacks smoke marijuana at equal rates. [Yet] blacks are four times more likely to be arrested than whites for smoking marijuana,” Sanders pointed out. “We are going to take marijuana out of the Federal Controlled Substance Act. It should not be a federal crime.”

Sanders was backed in his pitch for African American votes with a fiery speech from former Ohio state senator Nina Turner and the entertainer and political activist Killer Mike, who are both African Americans.

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