Police Brutality Activists Angry Obama Glossed Over Ferguson ‘Events’ in SOTU

January 21, 2015 05:40
Rt.com

President Barack Obama’s 2015 State of the Union address only briefly mentioned efforts to combat police brutality, but while he called for reform of the criminal justice system, many advocates for change criticized the brevity of his remarks.

Despite months of massive civil protests over the failures of the justice system to indict police officers for the deaths of African Americans Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York City, scant mention was made on the issue until the end of President Obama’s speech.

Referring to the controversial deaths as “the events of Ferguson and New York,” President Obama asked people to see both sides of the issue.

“We may have different takes on the events of Ferguson and New York,” he said, “but surely we can understand a father who fears his son can’t walk home without being harassed. Surely we can understand the wife who won’t rest until the police officer she married walks through the front door at the end of his shift.”

Obama added that the crime rate and the incarceration rate are coming down, saying he supported the desire to reform America’s criminal justice system.

“Surely we can agree it’s a good thing that for the first time in 40 years, the crime rate and the incarceration rate have come down together, and use that as a starting point for Democrats and Republicans, community leaders and law enforcement, to reform America’s criminal justice system so that it protects and serves us all.”