Addressing the unrest in Baltimore for the first time in public on Tuesday, President Obama told reporters that the violence was “counterproductive” and that the people responsible must be “treated as criminals.”
“There is no excuse for the kind of violence we saw that day. It is counterproductive,” he said at a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe the South Lawn of the White House.
“When individuals get crowbars and start prying open doors to loot, they’re not protesting. They’re not making a statement. They’re stealing,” he added.
“That’s not a protest. That is a handful of people taking advantage of the situation for their own purposes, and they need to be treated as criminals,” he said.
The President said he had spoken to the city’s mayor and the governor of Maryland.
Fox “news” headline:
President Endorses Violence in Baltimore
“When individuals get crowbars and start prying open doors…they’re…protesting. They’re…making a statement,” he added.
Is our President addressing those that are looters?
Or the LEOs responsible for the death of Freddy Gray?
I can hope for both can’t I?
jw1
I hope TPM will cover the rest of his very long and thoughtful comments about Baltimore. He spoke about everything from lack of education, dilapidated schools, a lack of jobs, etc. and he said the one thing I most wanted to hear in response to police brutality-this isn’t new. I get the distinct impression too many people think this is something that just started happening because they’re just now hearing about it. No, it’s not. It’s been going on for centuries.
I was going to make a similar comment on the Rand Paul post about the lack of fathers and morals. These issues go back centuries and aren’t confined to blacks.
…and of course, we await with breathless anticipation to hear the pearls of wisdom from Donald Trump, Rand Paul and all of the other conservatives who will weigh in with their pearls of wisdom regarding his remarks.