People of Color the 'Enemy,' Should Be Shot: Maine Governor

By teleSUR

27 August 16

Maine police arrest people of color for drug offenses at much higher rates than white people, despite the ACLU saying neither demographic is more likely to deal drugs.

aine Governor Paul LePage said Friday that drug dealers—or “the enemy”—are almost entirely “people of color or people of Hispanic origin” and must be shot.

“You shoot at the enemy ... You try to identify the enemy. And the enemy right now, the overwhelming majority right now coming in are people of color or people of Hispanic origin. I can’t help that. I just can’t help it. Those are the facts.”

LePage was speaking at a press conference explaining an explicit voicemail he left a state representative who accused him of being a racist.

He was heard saying in the released voicemail, “I want you to prove that I’m a racist. I’ve spent my life helping Black people and you little son-of-a-bitch, socialist cocksucker.”

The governor has said that he holds a binder in his office of drug dealers and that 90 percent of them are Black or Latino. People with names like “Smoothie, D-Money and Shifty” are coming to the state to deal drugs, he said earlier. Maine has a 95 white population, according to the latest census.

While Maine police arrests people of color for drug offenses at significantly a higher rate than white people, the ACLU of Maine said that neither demographic is more likely to deal drugs.

“This alarming disparity in arrests raises significant concerns that Maine law enforcement is participating in unconstitutional racial profiling,” said Alison Beyea, executive director of the ACLU of Maine, in a statement.

LePage said in the press conference that there is no racial profiling by Maine police.