Buttigieg faces angry residents in heated town hall over police shooting
Pete Buttigieg was heckled during a heated town hall on Sunday over the fatal police-involved shooting of a black man in South Bend, Indiana, with angry attendees blasting their mayor over his 2020 presidential bid and demanding he “do something” about the incident.
Tensions spilled over during the event at Washington High School where fuming residents booed and shouted over Buttigieg, who remained calm and at one point told audience members: “I would like to be able to finish my reply if that’s OK.”
The 37-year-old Democratic rising star left the campaign trail last week and returned to his home turf to address the June 16 shooting of Eric Logan, 54, at the hands of a white police officer.
During the tense event, Buttigieg tried to explain how officers will review the shooting and said he would ask the Justice Department to review the case and for an independent prosecutor to look into it as well.
“We’ve taken a lot of steps, but they clearly haven’t been enough,” Buttigieg said to shouts of, “We don’t trust you!” from the audience.
The mother of the victim, Shirley Newbill, told Buttigieg it was time for him to “do something.”
“I’ve been here all my life, and you have not done a damn thing about me or my son or none of these people out here,” she charged.
Another person demanded to know: “How long before you take action?”
Yet another attendee shouted: “Get the racists off the streets!” into the mic. Buttgieg responded by promising that: “If anyone who is on patrol is shown to be a racist or to do something racist in a way that is substantiated, that is their last day on the street.”
Some of the attendees also called for the firing of South Bend Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski, who was seated at a table on stage with Buttigieg during the event.
Many of the audience members questioned why Sgt. Ryan O’Neill didn’t have his body-camera on during the shooting.
Buttigieg said this was the beginning of a conversation and that he would work with the community to increase trust.
After the event, he told CNN that he was “sick of these things being talked about in political terms … it’s people’s lives,” referring to the shootings of black men at the hands of police officers.
“There’s more momentum to deal with this than ever,” he said.
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