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Obama sends attorney general to Ferguson amid federal inquiry Obama sends attorney general to Ferguson to monitor federal inquiry
(about 1 hour later)
US attorney general Eric Holder travel to Ferguson, Missouri, on Wednesday to check in with the federal civil rights investigation into the death of Michael Brown and meet with community leaders, President Barack Obama told reporters on Monday. Barack Obama distanced himself from a decision to deploy Missouri national guard troops to deal with continued unrest in Ferguson on Monday, dispatching attorney general Eric Holder to monitor events and saying he would be watching whether troops are “helping or hindering the situation”.
Obama, who is back in Washington on a previously scheduled pause from his family vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, was briefed on the situation by Holder earlier on Monday. The president also called for a review of the use of military equipment by local police forces, warning that a continued blurring of the lines between military and local law enforcement would be “contrary to our traditions”.
National guard troops have been deployed in Ferguson after the most violent night of clashes so far Sunday, more than a week after the fatal shooting by a police officer of the unarmed 18-year-old. But Obama struck a more detached tone over the root causes of violence, accusing some protestors of “stirring chaos” and declining to answer whether he would be visiting the city himself.
More details soon ... “While I understand the passions and the anger that arise over the death of Michael Brown, giving in to that anger by looting or carrying guns, and even attacking the police only serves to raise tensions and stir chaos,” said the president in a White House address that interrupted his two-week vacation. “It undermines rather than advanc[es] justice.”
Earlier on Monday, it was revealed that the White House had not been given advance warning of governor Jay Nixon’s decision to call out the Missouri national guard, something Obama did not deny when asked about the deployment.
“I spoke to Jay Nixon about this, expressed an interest in making sure that if in fact the national guard is used, it is used in a limited and appropriate way,” said the president. “He described the support role that they’re gonna be providing to local law enforcement. And I’ll be watching over the next several days, to assess whether, in fact, it’s helping rather than hindering progress in Ferguson.”
A heavy-handed police response in the first few days of demonstrations has been widely criticised in Washington, where some lawmakers are proposing legislation to limit the use of military equipment in civil policing activities.
“I think it’s probably useful for us to review how the funding has gone, how local law enforcement has used grant dollars, to make sure that what they’re – what they’re purchasing is stuff that they actually need,” said Obama. “Because, you know, there is a big difference between our military and our local law enforcement, and we don’t want those lines blurred. That would be contrary to our traditions.”
Yet other than announcing that Holder would be visiting Ferguson on Wednesday, there was little new intervention by the administration in the handling of the crisis.
Unlike his response to the shooting of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, Obama has been reluctant to take sides in the dispute over the police shooting of Michael Brown – perhaps wary of further polarising the national debate or appearing to condone the violent reaction.
“I have to be very careful about not prejudging these events before investigations are completed,” said Obama. “Because, although these are issues of local jurisdiction – the DoJ works for me. And then when they’re conducting an investigation, I’ve got to make sure that I don’t look like I’m putting my thumb on the scales one way or the other.”
Instead, the president made clear that restoring calm to the streets of Ferguson was his first priority.
“Right now what we have to do is make sure that the cause of justice and fair administration of the law is being brought to bear in Ferguson,” he aded. “In order to do that, we’ve got to make sure that we are able to distinguish between peaceful protesters who may have some legitimate grievances, and maybe longstanding grievances, and those who are using this tragic death as an excuse to engage in criminal behavior and tossing Molotov cocktails or looting stores. And that is a small minority of folks, and it may not even be residents of Ferguson, but they are damaging the cause. They are not advancing it.”