The shooting deaths of African-Americans by police officers that have prompted nationwide racial tensions are local matters to be dealt with by local authorities, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters at her Wednesday press briefing.
”Certainly a terrible incident. This is something that is a local matter and that’s something that we feel should be left up to the local authorities at this point in time,” Sanders said in response to a question about the acquittal of two Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police officers involved in the 2016 death of Alton Sterling. Sanders was also asked about the recent fatal shooting of Stephon Clark in California, and the 2014 death of Eric Garner.
The death of Sterling and similar shooting deaths of other African-Americans became a key issue in the summer of 2016 amid the presidential race between Donald Trump, who voiced strong support for police, and Democrat Hillary Clinton, who expressed support for police while also calling for reforms that she said would improve relations between law enforcement and the black community.
Sanders said Wednesday that the president remains committed to supporting police and did not see a role for himself in the multiple high-profile incidents of African-Americans being killed during interactions with police. {emphasis mine}
“Certainly we want to make sure that all law enforcement is carrying out the letter of the law. The president’s very supportive of law enforcement,” she said “But at the same time, in these specific cases and these specific instances, those would be left up to local authorities to make that determination and not something for the federal government to weigh in to". {emphasis mine}
White conservative code for, we really just don't care.?
In fairness it is best to wait until all the facts are known before the president makes a statement. We'll just have to wait and see how it plays out. Given Trump's track record we already have an indication.
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