Attorney General Barr: 'False narrative' that police shooting unarmed black males is 'epidemic'

Attorney General Bill Barr is disputing the argument about an "epidemic of cops shooting unarmed black men" in the United States. 

"The fact is that it’s very rare for an unarmed African-American to be shot by a white police officer," Barr said Wednesday on CNN. “I think the narrative that the police are on some epidemic of shooting unarmed black men is simply a false narrative.”

According to data from the National Institutes of Health, in years past, 52% percent of individuals shot by police officers were white, only 32% were black. However, black Americans make up only about 13% of the U.S. population.

The overwhelming majority (84%) of individuals shot by the police were armed. However, nearly 15% of black victims were unarmed, while only 9.4% of white victims were unarmed, and just under 6% of Hispanic victims were unarmed. 

The report did not mention the race of the shooting officers. 

In July, Barr said he understood why African-Americans harbored distrust toward police officers, and spoke about the optics of bias during police encounters with black individuals. But he has remained firm in his rejection of the theory that systemic racism is to blame for police shootings of blacks. 

"It seems far more likely that the problem stems from a complex mix of factors, which can be addressed with focused attention over time," Barr said.