WASHINGTON — President Obama
is planning a day of meetings at the White House on Monday to respond
to the unrest in Ferguson, Mo., and racially tinged anger across the
country after a grand jury decided not to indict a white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager.
Mr.
Obama, who has labored to strike the right balance in reacting to the
crisis, has not scheduled a trip to Ferguson despite days of speculation
about a presidential visit there.
But he will gather his cabinet on Monday to discuss the results of a review of federal programs that provide military-style equipment
to state and local law enforcement agencies. The initiatives were
called into question in August, after the Ferguson police responded with
riot gear and assault-style weapons to protests in the aftermath of the
shooting of Michael Brown, the teenager, by Officer Darren Wilson.
“As
the country has witnessed, disintegration of trust between law
enforcement agencies and the people they protect and serve can
destabilize communities, undermine the legitimacy of the criminal
justice system, undermine public safety, create resentment in local
communities, and make the job of delivering police services less safe
and more difficult,” a White House official said Sunday night, speaking
on condition of anonymity to describe the meetings.
Mr.
Obama has invited young civil rights leaders to the Oval Office later
in the day to discuss “broader challenges we still face as a nation,
including the mistrust between law enforcement and communities of
color,” the official said.
The
president has faced a challenge in calibrating his response to the
situation in Ferguson, working to balance the task of urging calm and
unity with his desire, as America’s first black president, to
acknowledge racial wounds — all while being careful not to interfere in
the investigation.
“Separate
and apart from the particular circumstances in Ferguson, which I am
careful not to speak to because it’s not my job as president to comment
on ongoing investigations and specific cases,” Mr. Obama said last week
in Chicago, “the frustrations people have generally — those are rooted
in some hard truths that have to be addressed.”
The
president also is scheduled to meet on Monday with elected officials,
law enforcement officials and community, civil rights and religious
leaders from around the country to discuss ways they can work together
to foster stronger communities.
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