Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently endorsed Sara Gideon’s bid to unseat Sen. Susan Collins through his gun control group, Everytown for Gun Safety, and announced a plan to double his previous campaign contributions to top $60 million to buy a “gun sense” Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate.

What I would like to know is how Sara Gideon, who recently participated in protests against police brutality and racism, can accept this endorsement and support from the very man who implemented and promoted the “stop-and-frisk” policy in New York City.

Under this policy, which Bloomberg actively promoted, New York City police would temporarily detain, question and frisk men between the ages of 14-24 based solely on the color of their skin. In 2011 alone, while Bloomberg was mayor, nearly 700,000 New Yorkers were targeted under this program, largely because of the color of their skin.

This is why Gideon’s fellow Democrats, including Bernie Sanders, have refused any financial resources from Bloomberg, who they view as racist.

Evidently, Sara Gideon doesn’t share their hesitation in accepting Michael Bloomberg’s money and endorsement. Mainers deserve to know why.