President Says Incidents in Louisiana, Minnesota ‘Symptomatic’ of Racism in Criminal Justice System
All Americans should be concerned about the fatal police shootings of two black men in Louisiana and Minnesota this week, which are symptomatic of institutional racism in the criminal justice system, according to President Barack Obama.Â
Alton Sterling, 37, was shot to death while pinned to the ground by two officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, early Tuesday. Philando Castile, 32, was killed by an officer in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, on Wednesday. Horrifying videos showing Sterling’s shooting — and the aftermath of Castile’s — have gone viral online over the last 48 hours, sparking protests and vigils across the nation.Â
“I can’t comment on the specific facts of these cases, and I have full confidence in the Justice Department’s ability to conduct a thorough and fair inquiry,” Obama said Thursday night after arriving in Warsaw, Poland, for his final NATO summit. “But what I can say is that all of us as Americans should be troubled by these shootings, because these are not isolated incidents. They’re symptomatic of a broader set of racial disparities that exist in our criminal justice system.”Â
Obama then reeled off a list of statistics showing that people of color are more likely to be pulled over, searched, shot by police and receive longer sentences than whites. Â
“These are facts, and when incidents like this occur, there’s a big chunk of our fellow citizenry that feels as if because of the color of their skin, they are not being treated the same, and that hurts, and that should trouble all of us,” Obama said. “This is not just a Black issue, it’s not just a Hispanic issue, this is an American issue that we should all care about. All fair-minded people should be concerned.”Â
Obama added that he has great respect for most law enforcement officers — who have difficult and dangerous jobs — adding that to say “black lives matter” doesn’t mean “blue lives don’t matter.” Â
“To be concerned about these issues is not to be against law enforcement,” he said. “This isn’t a matter of us comparing the value of lives. This is recognizing that there is a particular burden that’s being placed on a group of our fellow citizens, and we should care about that, and we can’t dismiss it.
“I just step back and ask folks to think, what if this happened to someone in your family?” he said. “How would you feel? To be concerned about these issues is not political correctness, it’s just being American and wanting to live up to our best and highest ideals, and it’s to recognize the reality that we’ve got some tough history, and we haven’t gotten through all that history yet.”
Earlier, Vice President Joe Biden and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton also responded to the fatal shootings:Â