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03/28/2024 05:42:39 pm

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Obama: Eric Garner And Michael Brown Protests Are Necessary

Barack Obama

(Photo : REUTERS/LARRY DOWNING) President Barack Obama answers questions from business leaders while at the quarterly meeting of the Business Roundtable in Washington, December 3, 2014.

United States President Barack Obama has released a statement on Monday saying that the protests in Ferguson and New York are necessary as it has been prompted by the grand jury decisions regarding the cases of Eric Garner and Michael Brown who were killed by white police officers. 

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The interview has aired on BET on Monday and he said that as long as the protests are peaceful, he thinks that it is essential but when it turns into something violent, the protesters just turn counterproductive. He is referring to the protests in Ferguson, in New York and in the West Coast.

"Power concedes nothing without a fight, that's true, but it's also true that a country's conscious has to be triggered by some inconvenience. The value of peaceful protests, activism ... is it reminds the society this is not yet done," Obama adds.

Obama also hyped the moves launched by his administration in order to improve the criminal justice system of the country and to start launching better relationships between law enforcement agencies and communities of color. He was referring to the plan called "Task Force on 21st century Policing" that also included a budget proposed to have body cams be installed on the uniforms of police officials.

Obama added that he feels there is a huge amount of responsibility on taking actions regarding the unrest in Ferguson, in New York City and in other areas where the protests are happening. He pointed out that feeling responsible for the unrests and conflicts has been reminded to him by young leaders from the protests he met with last week.

He added that the unfairness in the criminal justice system is not just a black or a brown problem but generally it is an American problem. Obama adds that this was part of the reason why he got himself engaged into politics so he can bridge the gaps to help the people understand the problem.

However, despite his efforts, he said he could not put his thumb on the judiciary system but assured that both the Department of Justice and his administration are taking the issues seriously.

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