Melanie Eversley

USA TODAY

NEW YORK — The national civil rights and advocacy community came down hard on President Trump for comments he made Friday on Long Island that seemed to encourage violence on the part of the police.

Organizations from the Southern Poverty Law Center to the YWCA, and from Amnesty International to the American Civil Liberties Union admonished the president for his words that appeared to endorse excessive use of force by police. The president made the remarks during a speech touting the administration’s work to banish the notorious, transnational MS-13 street gang.

In the 35-minute address, Trump referred to members of the violent gang as “animals” who have “transformed peaceful parks and beautiful quiet neighborhoods into blood-stained killing fields.”

Suffolk County has been particularly hard hit by violence related to MS-13 and has seen 17 murders allegedly committed by the gang since the start of 2016, according to NPR. One fatal attack included machetes and baseball bats used on two teen girls, NPR reported.

Trump vowed the administration would continue to go after the gang and he appeared to encourage law enforcement to be more violent in handling suspects.

“When you see these towns and when you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in, rough, and I said, ‘Please don’t be too nice,’ “ Trump told the audience of law enforcement officers at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood, N.Y.

“Like when you guys put somebody in the car and you’re protecting their head, you know, the way you put their hand over, 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?’ “

Advocates who work with immigrants and who promote human rights said the comments advocated divisiveness and hate.

“By encouraging police to dole out extra pain at will, the president is urging a kind of lawlessness that already imperils the health and lives of people of color at shameful rates,” Jeffery Robinson, deputy legal director at the ACLU, said Friday. “This country is weary of the kind of policing that Trump espouses, having seen over and over again that it only makes it harder for police to investigate and solve crime,” he said.

Casey Harden, interim CEO of the YWCA USA, said Trump encouraged police to be less careful with the personal safety of those they are arresting, and said his promises to ramp up border enforcement would likely target Spanish-speaking communities.

“This race-centered aggression and lack of nuance is unacceptable from our nation’s leader,” Harden said. “We are insistent that the president and his administration immediately stop reinforcing hateful attitudes and promoting oppressive policies. YWCA USA is dedicated to eliminating racism, wherever it appears and by any means necessary. As such, we will continue to speak out against race-based fear-mongering and unjust public policies.”

Lecia Brooks, outreach director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, said in a statement Friday that "it's disgraceful for anyone to advocate abuse against another human being."

“But for President Trump to endorse brutality against individuals at the hands of law enforcement officers who are sworn to protect our communities is absolutely reprehensible.”

Said Zeke Johnson, senior director of programs at Amnesty International USA: “This inflammatory and hateful speech will only escalate tensions between police and communities of color and put both law enforcement and civilians at risk. Needlessly equipping officers in a manner more suited to a battlefield than Main Street automatically places them in a confrontational stance with people they are sworn to protect. Police cannot treat every community like an invading army, and encouraging violence by police is irresponsible and reprehensible.”

Friday night, the president tweeted out video of the speech and appeared to be expressing defiance in the wake of the criticism, saying, “We will defend our country, protect our communities and put the safety of the AMERICAN PEOPLE FIRST!”

Follow Melanie Eversley on Twitter: @melanieeversley

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