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by Matthew Rusling
WASHINGTON, July 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is expected to voice support for police during this week's Republican National Convention (RNC), at a time of growing anti-police sentiment amid rising racial tensions.
"The police are obviously very concerned, because they don't feel that anyone has their back," Ralph Winnie, an alternate delegate for the state of Hawaii, told Xinhua in a phone interview from the RNC held in Cleveland, Ohio.
"So they are very wary about taking the risks that are necessary to go after and combat violent crime," Winnie said.
The RNC was overshadowed by rising racial tensions and violence in the past two weeks, which witnessed two incidents in which eight police officers were killed and a dozen others wounded by two black gunmen in the states of Louisiana and Texas.
The two police killing incidents were preceded by two shootings in which two black men were killed by police in Louisiana and Minnesota.
The killings sparked angry black protests nationwide, calling for justice for the African Americans in the country.
Winnie noted the RNC opened with a moment of silence for the officers who were ambushed and slain in Dallas, Texas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
"Trump has been very vocal in saying he's going to stand with the police officers, and not stand with groups like Black Lives Matter as well as some of the radical groups that are really creating havoc," Winnie said.
The black rights advocate group, Black Lives Matter, has staged anti-police protests in multiple U.S. cities in a bid to demonstrate against the recent killings of black men by police officers, who are usually white.
"And so it's very important that Trump sends the message that his administration stands behind law enforcement," Winnie said.
When asked what specifically Trump plans to do to combat anti-police violence, Winnie said a Trump White House would make sure police have the money and resources to be able to combat violent crime at a dangerous time.
Moreover, the Justice Department would also support officers, at a time when the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has been blasted for what critics call "not standing behind the police."
Critics say Obama and the Justice Department are quick to wade in anytime a black man is killed by police, even before all the facts are straight.
For example, an unarmed black man, Michael Brown, was shot dead in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014 after he attacked a police officer.
Riots erupted in Brown's hometown, though later the Justice Department cleared the officer of any wrongdoing.
Both Obama and former Justice Department chief Eric Holder were accused by many of jumping to conclusions before all the facts were straight.
Obama was slammed when he sent some of his aides to Brown's funeral. Nearly a year later, Howard Safir, former New York City police commissioner, said Holder "had a war on police."
"Under a Trump presidency, the Justice Department would certainly be willing to back up the police officers," Winnie said.
Critics of U.S. law enforcement, however, believe that young black men are often the victims of police bias due to racial profiling. Stories abound of innocent blacks being pulled over or questioned by officers for no apparent reason.
A Gallup poll released last week showed that American blacks are split on whether they believe the police act unfairly toward them. [ It found that half of blacks believe police in their local areas treat blacks and other racial minorities fairly, while 48 percent said they treat blacks unfairly.
While Trump has on numerous occasions expressed support for the police, critics say the bombastic businessman often makes grandiose statements without providing details on how to turn his ideas into reality.
However, Trump's message of supporting police could further alienate African American voters among whom he is already suffering from a bad image problem.
A recent poll found that Trump has nearly zero support among black voters in the crucial states of Ohio and Pennsylvania.
