On Top Of The News Email:news@arubatoday.com website: www.arubatoday.com Tel:+297 582-7800 Friday, July 8, 2016

After Shootings, Obama Says Police Must Root Out Bias

JOSH LEDERMAN                   ed at more than twice the      President Barack Obama makes a statement on the fatal police shootings of two black men in
Associated Press                rate of white Americans.       Louisiana and Minnesota after arriving in Warsaw, Poland, Friday, July 8, 2016.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi-        “When incidents like this
dent Barack Obama called        occur, there’s a big chunk                                                                                                               (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
on American law enforce-        of our fellow citizenry that
ment to root out bias in its    feels as if it’s because of
ranks and said all Ameri-       the color of their skin, they
cans should be troubled by      are not being treated the
frequent police shootings       same,” Obama said. “And
of blacks and Hispanics,        that hurts. And that should
insisting that fatal incidents  trouble all of us.”
in Minnesota and Louisiana      Obama’s diagnosis of the
are not isolated.               problem reflected a grow-
Adding his voice to a grow-     ing sense of frustration and
ing public outcry, Obama        willingness to speak out
said the shootings were         publicly about police kill-
symptoms of a “broader          ings despite the risk of mak-
set of racial disparities”      ing law enforcement offi-
in the justice system that      cers feel under attack.
aren’t being fixed quickly      The president spoke in a
enough.                         hastily arranged appear-
He ticked through a list of     ance at a hotel in Warsaw
statistics he said showed       just after arriving in Poland
concerns about bias are         for a NATO summit.
real: African-Americans be-
ing shot by police or arrest-       Continued on page 3