Yet Mr. Scott is outspoken about police excesses. He says his ambition to reform law enforcement is driven by his Christian ideas of fairness and justice. It’s also informed by personal experience. In his Wednesday speech, he said he’d been stopped by police 18 times since 2000, “including seven times in one year” as an elected official.
On four separate occasions, he says, Capitol Police officers have tried to impede his entry into the building, disbelieving that he’s a U.S. senator. “The first time, I didn’t say much because [the cop] physically put his arms out, so I couldn’t walk in,” Mr. Scott says. “My chief of staff called the police department after, and they thought I was exaggerating.” They looked at the security-camera footage and called back to apologize. “That kind of scars your soul a little bit.”