South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg admitted Thursday evening during the second Democrat presidential primary debate that the police force in his hometown isn’t black enough.
When asked by moderator Rachel Maddow why blacks comprise only six percent of the South Bend Police Department in a city where they make up 26 percent of the population, the mayor readily conceded that he’d failed to implement the sort of racial quotas sought by the radical left.
“I couldn’t get it done,” he said. “My community is in anguish right now because of an officer-involved shooting, a black man, Eric Logan, killed by a white officer. And I’m not allowed to take sides until the investigation comes back. The officer said he was attacked with a knife, but he didn’t have his body camera on. It’s a mess. And we’re hurting.”
Listen:
Though the evidence suggests that the fatal shooting of Eric Logan was justified, racial grievance mongers in South Bend and elsewhere have jumped to conclusions and automatically labeled the shooting the result of the local police department’s alleged racism and lack of diversity.
Buttigieg has faced a large brunt of the abuse, with grievance mongers branding him a racist because of his refusal to jump to conclusions and terminate practically his entire police force.
Instead of sticking to his guns, however, he seemed to capitulate during the debate.
“And I could walk you through all of the things that we have done as a community, all of the steps that we took, from bias training to de-escalation, but it didn’t save the life of Eric Logan,” he continued Thursday, suggesting that Logan’s death was somehow unjustified.
He also suggested the SBPD is racist.
“And when I look into his mother’s eyes, I have to face the fact that nothing that I say will bring him back. This is an issue that is facing our community and so many communities around the country. And until we move policing out from the shadow of systemic racism, whatever this particular incident teaches us, we will be left with the bigger problem of the fact that there is a wall of mistrust put up one racist act at a time, not just from what’s happened in the past, but from what’s happening around the country in the present. It threatens the well-being of every community.”
“And I am determined to bring about a day when a white person driving a vehicle and a black person driving a vehicle, when they see a police officer approaching, feels the exact same thing,” he concluded.
His answer elicited three distinct responses.
Conservatives for the most part excoriated him for touting false narrative about Logan’s shooting and the police:
Lying Donna Brazile was on @foxandfriends this morning race baiting claiming officers shot an unarmed black man. Police say he had a knife, an investigation is not complete but these race baiters are already blaming police I am sick of this crap.
— ?Nikita Marie (@RetiredNikitaM) June 28, 2019
So @PeteButtigieg says he can’t take sides, the talks about systemic racism in policing. Sounds like he’s chosen sides to me. Why not just repeal every law, then no one would ever be bothered by police again. #DemDebate2
— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) June 28, 2019
Perhaps @PeteButtigieg could do a little research instead of just throw cops under the bus. #DemDebate #BlueLivesMatter https://t.co/sy0H8Sraib
— Betsy Brantner Smith (@sgtbetsysmith) June 28, 2019
I don’t like his answer. All leftist believe that most cops are racist. Many studies show there is no statistical evidence for this. Still, Mayor Pete must pander to the leftist, and throw the cops under the bus for votes. Real bravery would say, “My cops aren’t racist.”
— Brian McGill (@brian8065) June 28, 2019
@PeteButtigieg throwing cops under the bus because his #DevianceLobby card can’t beat the black person card in identity politics poker
— DeploredByRomney (@AiderNr) June 28, 2019
Buttigieg is throwing cops under the bus without trial #demdabate2
— Frank Hartnagel (@FrankHartnagel) June 28, 2019
But liberal Democrats were divided. Those favorable to the mayor responded by praising him for accepting culpability for a death that’s still being investigated.
“This is exactly what I want in a leader. Someone who doesn’t point fingers but takes responsibility. Someone willing to be held accountable. Someone who recognizes his/her faults,” one left-wing Twitter user wrote.
“Self accountability!!! @PeteButtigieg just laid it out there…he owned up to it, acknowledged his shortcomings then moved on. If only more politicians did the same,” another added.
However, those not favorable to him instead slammed him for not telling the whole story.
“Pete Buttigieg has not used the power he has to remove a police officer who black activists in South Bend have demanded be fired,” the liberal Democrats at BuzzFeed complained.
That cop, Aaron Knepper, has a history of shoddy behavior, yet he still remains gainfully employed: “[E]ven after repeated allegations of misconduct, after a suspension, after being pulled off the street — and then promptly returning to it — Knepper still has a job.”
So instead of firing a single cop with a proven history of bad behavior, Buttigieg has chosen to besmirch the entire South Bend Police Department over allegedly bad behavior.
This certainly hasn’t earned him any fans among local cops.
In a statement released earlier this week, the city’s local Fraternal Order of Police Lodge accused the mayor of focusing on Logan’s shooting “solely for his political gain and not the health of the city he serves.”
The South Bend Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #36 accuses Democrat presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg of “driving a wedge between law enforcement officers and the community” and making decisions in the city’s officer-involved shooting “solely for his political gain” pic.twitter.com/gmOsSgOI8S
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) June 25, 2019
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.
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