President Obama talks Ferguson on Jimmy Kimmel Live, says there's 'no excuse for criminal acts'
During his Thursday night appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, President Obama said there is "no excuse for criminal acts" in Ferguson, Missouri, and that he wants to see law enforcement and protesters work together following the shooting of two police officers.
"Whoever fired those shots shouldn't detract from the issue," he said. "They're criminals. They need to be arrested." Later, he added, "What we have to make sure of is that the folks who disregard and disrespect the other side, people who resort to violence — that they're marginalized." He reminded people that "in the same way that you can't generalize about police officers who do an extraordinarily tough job — overwhelmingly, they do it professionally — you can't generalize about protesters who it turns out had some very legitimate grievances."
The president also mentioned the vicious cycle described in the Department of Justice report released last week:
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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