Barr: There Is No ‘Epidemic’ Of Police ‘Shooting Unarmed Black Men’

Attorney General William Barr said Wednesday that there was no “epidemic” of police officers shooting down “unarmed black men,” calling it “a false narrative.”

“I don’t think there are two justice systems. I think the narrative that the police are on some, you know, epidemic of shooting unarmed black men is simply a false narrative and also the narrative that that’s based on race,” Barr told CNN’s “The Situation Room.”

“The fact of the matter is, it’s very rare for an unarmed African-American to be shot by a white police officer,” Barr continued. “There were 10 cases last year, six of them the suspect was attacking the police officer physically. So these are rare things compared to the 7 to 8,000 young black men who are killed every year.” (RELATED: Civil Rights Activist: Left Is Not Fighting For Social Justice But For ‘Anarchy’)

CNN interviewer Wolf Blitzer reminded Barr that he has declared unfair policing of black men do be a “widespread phenomenon” and asked him if that did not constitute systemic racism.

Barr responded that he defined “systemic” as meaning a practice is “built into the institution and I don’t think that’s true.” The attorney general said he believes American institutions “have been reformed in the past 60 years.”

Barr argued that if “anything has been built in” to Americans institutions its “safeguards” against racist attitudes. “That’s what I’m reacting to on systemic.”

“I think we have to be careful about throwing the idea of racism around. Racism usually means, you know, that I believe that because of your race you’re a lesser human being than me. And I think there are people in the United States that feel that way.” (RELATED: Leo Terrell: ‘Embarrassed To Be A Democrat After DNC Plays ‘Race Card’ With Mount Rushmore)

“I think we’ve made a lot of progress in the past 60 years. To listen to the American left nowadays, you’d think we’ve gotten nowhere,” Barr said.