At a speaking engagement in Aspen, Colorado, former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg claimed that 95 percent of murders involve minorities.
Known to be kicking around the idea of a 2020 presidential bid, the three-term NYC former Mayor spoke in front of a sold-out crowd at the Aspen Institute on a variety of issues, including the legalization of marijuana, education, and gun control. It was his statements about minorities and firearms that were the most eyebrow raising.
According to the Aspen Times, “Bloomberg claimed that 95 percent of murders fall into a specific category: male, minority and between the ages of 15 and 25.”
“These kids think they’re going to get killed anyway because all their friends are getting killed,” the former Mayor stated. “They just don’t have any long-term focus or anything. It’s a joke to have a gun. It’s a joke to pull a trigger.”
The Truth About Gun Guns fact checked Bloomberg, and found that minorities have only committed 55 percent of the murders in the U.S. since 2000—or about half of what Mr. Bloomberg attributed to the group.
“Mayor Bloomberg’s statement that black males should not be allowed to have guns echoes similar sentiments made by southern white supremacists in the 19th century,” Tom King, President of the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, said in a statement published by the The Washington Times. “So called ‘Black Codes’ were enacted by various southern states to discriminate against black Americans and maintain the system of white supremacy that made slavery possible. These included restrictions on firearms possession.
“If a politician said this about anything other than guns, the mainstream media would be all over them,” Mr. King argued. “Michael Bloomberg isn’t just any politician, he is the leading voice for gun control in America. He should be held accountable for this slander.”