Even as Baltimore city appeared to limp back to normalcy with the help of a massive deployment of National Guard troops, President Barack Obama hit out at both the violent fringe of African-American protesters and the police force for its handling of black men in different parts of America.
Denouncing the hordes of black protesters that attacked Baltimore’s police officers, looted stores and set them on fire, Obama said on Tuesday, “There’s no excuse for the kind of violence that we saw yesterday. It is counterproductive.”
“When individuals get crowbars and start prying open doors to loot, they’re not protesting, they’re not making a statement — they’re stealing. When they burn down a building, they’re committing arson,” Obama said, adding the net result will be one burning building looped on television over and over, while the cause spearheaded by thousands of peaceful demonstrators will be lost in the discussion.
Obama, who gave a 14-minute reply to a question on Baltimore during a joint news conference with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, came down hard on the law enforcement machinery when it comes to dealing with suspected African-American offenders.