Trump called Babbitt an “innocent, wonderful, incredible woman” and labeled the Black officer who shot her a “thug.” Other Republicans have mourned her as a martyr.Īdrianne Shropshire, executive director of Black PAC, said the issue goes beyond the presidential race, noting that some Republican-controlled legislatures passed measures after the wave of protests in 2020 against institutional racism and police brutality, seeking to more severely punish demonstrators. A key example is Ashli Babbitt, the white former Air Force veteran who was shot to death by a Black police officer while trying to climb through a broken window at the U.S. “That’s the message - Trump’s and his bloc of Republicans’ message - that the ‘crazies’ are a threat, and we have to do what we can to protect ‘Americans’ any way we can.”īut the GOP defense of white people after Black people are killed is often very different from incidents in which white people are killed. “There’s very little downside within the Republican electorate, given that it overlays so nicely with the issues that are incredibly salient among Republican voters in terms of law and order and fitting this narrative about the degeneration of urban life,” Borick said. Bystanders said he had been shouting at passengers, begging for money and acting aggressively, but didn’t touch anyone aboard the train.Ĭhristopher Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, said GOP presidential candidates see Penny’s cause as a way to excite their party’s base. Neely, known by some commuters as a Michael Jackson impersonator, had a history of mental illness and had frequently been arrested in the past.

“And, if there’s race and class played into it, then it’s like Christmastime for them.” “They have a playbook of winning elections that is based on really tapping into the worst parts of human nature and really driving it home with division and fear,” said Jumaane Williams, a Democrat who is New York City’s public advocate.

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