Presidential candidate and South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) on Sunday addressed his low support among African Americans and the recent police shooting of an unarmed black man in the city.
“The badge has a history and even the best human being ever to put on the uniform is burdened by that history and by what’s happening around the country,” Buttigieg said on “Fox News Sunday.”
{mosads}Buttigieg told Fox’s Chris Wallace that a “wall of mistrust” exists between the police and African Americans.
“It is not unique to South Bend but we are working through the pain of that issue in South Bend,” he added.
Buttigieg said the disconnect “has to do with deeper issues of systemic racism as a country,” citing other disparities such as doctors being less likely to take black patients’ pain seriously and black applicants having less of a chance of getting a call back for a job than a white applicant with equal qualifications.
Buttigieg left the campaign trail earlier this year to address the shooting of Eric Logan in South Bend, where he was met by protesters angry at what they called his inaction on the issue of police brutality.
Sgt. Ryan O’Neill, who had his body camera turned off at the time, claimed he shot Logan after Logan charged him with a knife. O’Neill resigned from the force in July.
St. Joseph Circuit Court Judge John Broden has appointed prosecutor Richard Hertel to investigate the shooting.