Maxine Waters hits Trump over comments to police

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) took aim at President Trump on Saturday over his comments to police officers during a speech in Long Island, N.Y., this week.

Trump suggested officers allow suspects’ heads to hit the doors of police vehicles after they are placed under arrest.

“When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddywagon, you just see them thrown in, rough, I said, ‘Please don’t be too nice,'” Trump told an audience of law enforcement officers and crime victims’ families. 

{mosads}“Like when you guys put somebody in the car and you’re protecting their head, you know, the way you put their hand over?” the president continued. “Like, don’t hit their head, and they’ve just killed somebody. Don’t hit their head? I said, ‘You can take the hand away, OK?’”

Trump’s comments drew laughter and applause from many of the officers standing behind him on stage. 

Waters ripped the speech Saturday, invoking the memory of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died in 2015 of a spinal cord injury while in police custody in Baltimore.

“Freddie Gray’s family probably wants to know if officers will protect Trump’s head when he is thrown into the back of a paddy wagon,” Waters tweeted.

Freddie Gray’s family probably wants to know if officers will protect Trump’s head when he is thrown into the back of a paddy wagon.

— Maxine Waters (@MaxineWaters) July 30, 2017

Waters has been an outspoken critic of Trump throughout his presidency, often calling for his impeachment.