Clinton, Trump decry latest police shootings of black men

CLEVELAND (AP) — Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton decried a fresh round of police-involved shootings on Wednesday, with the Republican nominee saying he was "very troubled" by the killing of a black man by a white police officer in Oklahoma.

Courting black voters who have long spurned Republicans, Trump's event in Cleveland Heights' New Spirit Revival Center took a bizarre turn when he was introduced by boxing promoter Don King, who used a racial slur as he made the case for black voters to support Trump.

Trump's latest foray into the black community not only sought to connect with voters in Cleveland, home to a large community of African-American voters key to Clinton's prospects in Ohio, but also with moderate suburban voters, who frequently hear Clinton describe Trump as extreme.

King, introducing Trump, raised eyebrows when he said a black man is always framed by his skin color, recalling that he once told pop icon Michael Jackson if you're poor, you're a 'poor Negro.'

Trump said during a Fox News town hall taping that the tactic that gives police the ability to stop and search anyone they deem suspicious had "worked incredibly well" in New York, where it expanded under former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Trump, joined by running mate Mike Pence at the Ohio event, has routinely praised police officers in his speeches to supporters.

[...] after reading from notes about the role of the black church in the civil rights movement and vowing to help struggling black Americans, Trump questioned the Tulsa officer's reaction in shooting Crutcher, who was unarmed.