In this image from video provided by My Brother’s Keeper Alliance and The Obama Foundation, former President Barack Obama speaks Wednesday, June 3, 2020, during virtual town hall event with young people to discuss policing and the civil unrest that has followed the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. (My Brother’s Keeper Alliance and The Obama Foundation via AP)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 6:54 AM PT — Thursday, June 4, 2020
Barack Obama made his first public remarks regarding the ongoing nationwide protests by joining calls for police reform.
During a virtual Town Hall on Wednesday, the former president outlined changes he believes would reduce police violence against racial minorities. His suggestions included establishing clear “use of force” guidelines and allowing officers to intervene when a fellow officer is being too rough with a suspect.
Obama also spoke about the recent killings of black Americans, including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbory and Tony McDade.
“In some ways, as tragic as these past few weeks have been, as difficult and scary and uncertain as they’ve been, they’ve also been an incredible opportunity for people to be awakened to some of these underlying trends,” Obama stated. “And they offer an opportunity for us to all work together to tackle them, to take them on, to change America and make it live up to its highest ideals.”
I wrote out some thoughts on how to make this moment a real turning point to bring about real change––and pulled together some resources to help young activists sustain the momentum by channeling their energy into concrete action. https://t.co/jEczrOeFdv
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 1, 2020
The former Democrat President went on to address the families of victims by saying he’s committed to the task of “creating a more just nation.”
