Former President Obama: 'Let's Not Excuse Violence ... Or Participate In It'

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Former President Obama writes that it isn't a choice between protesting and voting — 'We have to do both.' 'The elected officials who matter most in reforming police departments and the criminal justice system work at the state and local levels,' he says.

The Democrat, who often admonishes people to vote, said that"we should be fighting to make sure that we have a president, a Congress, a U.S. Justice Department, and a federal judiciary that actually recognize the ongoing, corrosive role that racism plays in our society and want to do something about it."

But he wrote that the officials"who matter most in reforming police departments and the criminal justice system" work at the state and local levels. Mayors and county executives, Obama wrote, appoint police chiefs and negotiate with police unions, while district attorneys and state's attorneys"decide whether or not to investigate and ultimately charge those involved in police misconduct."

All are elected positions, Obama said, which usually suffer from"pitifully low" voter turnout,"especially among young people — which makes no sense given the direct impact these offices have on social justice issues, not to mention the fact that who wins and who loses those seats is often determined by just a few thousand, or even a few hundred, votes."

Obama established a task force on"21st-century policing" in 2014 after Michael Brown's shooting death by police in Ferguson Mo., which led to violence there.

 

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Obama speaks, and once again fails the black community

8 years he had with no change

It’s about sneakers

Why the hell is he even speaking he's a nobody he was a failed president where the failed presidency for 8 years you did nothing to help this problem he was part of the problem so no I think Obama should shut his mouth and just go away

Who are the elected officials in Minneapolis?

Former President Obama should go away and take his sidekick Biden with him

obamagate ,let the arrests start

If this was true, staceyabrams would be governor of Georgia. 16M voters were purged from 2014-2016, areas with a history of racial discrimination had significantly higher purge rates.

If Democrats wanted police reform they should have been doing it for the past decade in Minneapolis. The fact of the matter is, these riots and police incidents are taking place in Democrat super majority states and cities. Don't vote for the segregation party, ie Democrats.

Obama the divider. He destroyed race relations.

He didnt do anything (esp with ferguson) and biden absolutely wont do anything against police either we might not even be allowed to mail in votes either rn its deeply distopian and frustrating

'VOTE DEMOCRATS OUT' says Obama.

Yeah, we saw what he did for it during eight years of his reign

In small, local elections are how some really horrible ppl get their horrible foot in the door so they can do horrible things... every election matters.

Yes, let’s blame the guy that’s not been President for the past 3+ years. Way to go, Twitter!

Who cares what Obama says? He is Antifa! He is an enemy of the state!

Radical left is the enemy of the USA!!!

The point is valid, but the difficulty is trying to vote when your civil rights have already been denied by a system designed over 100 years ago with the intention of keeping a portion of it's citizens away from the ballot-box.

Shall we have mail in protesting?

He's looking rough.

Obama is speaking out more than our president is kinda acting like a president figure rn.

Preach it President O.

How many more victims will there be before Elections? Those who have no video proof ?

Where is you then on the line? On some ritzy vacation?

Just 'President Obama' will do thank you.

Should we in Minnesota keep voting in the Dems that already have majority rule or should we shake it up a bit? Same thing for all the other rioting cities and states that are mostly Dem controlled?

That bum had eight years and did nothing to help. All talk.

sure would be good if democrats did anything to actually fight the GOP instead of tearing up paper menacingly or clapping at a weird angle

Mayor Bowser is a Democrat... Democrats across the country are helping Trump by attacking protestors with police. Who should we vote for? We can trust NEITHER party!

No one really cares what he has to say anymore.

Sorry Barry. Looting liquor and TVs while destroying people's livelihoods is NOT protesting. It's rioting and it has to be dealt using overwhelming force. Antifa are domestic terrorists.

Wait..crickets..yeah that would be your response..

As long as arbitrary violence follows targeted violence, it dissipates and the victims will continue to be victimized. A measured and targeted response with the force of law and focus of millions can make violence so distasteful and victimization so vile that we choose civility.

He was a lot like Trump in a away. He was always complaining and whining about everything and never actually getting anything done.

And what did he do while he had the chance?

Gitmo

Obama refuses to condemn the looting and violence as he encourages more if it.

If we can hold the November elections; it will be the record high voters in the history of America

The disgraced Hussein has his own criminal investigation he should be worried about. obaMAGAte

please stop spamming this, no one cares about what the former failure Obama has to say

Obama had his chance to do something when he was president he was too scared to go against the police and this is what we're left with while he's safe in a mansion being protected by secret service

Legend

If only he had been president for 8 years. Then he might actually have been able to do something about police violence and racism.

Cool, glad he did nothing then.

Miss you so much Mr. President....

Race baiting has tremendous consequences.

Voting hasn't solved the problems of this country yet. What else is left? RevolutionNow

NPR, take pic down. He hasn’t spoken anywhere but behind his palace in Martha’s Vineyard. You should be writing articles about where is Obama in all this. Just because he used to be President doesn’t mean he still can’t lead out front.

Voting every election is absolutely necessary . America needs 90% of Americans voting all the time.

The police motto “to serve and protect” NOT ENFORCE WHEN did we turn into a paramilitary force 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Protest? Fine. Vote? Yes. Burn, brutalize, and loot? Go to jail, go directly to jail, do not pass Go, do not collect $200.

BenjamminGold Unfortunately, we live in a country where there is not a universal right to vote,\rprotest nor to healthcare access humanrightsactivist

And the dems have control of EVERY ONE OF THESE CITIES.

How many Republicans does it take to change a light bulb? None; They would just sit in the dark and blame Obama.

However. I would like to tell you in my 8 years. I did nothing. That’s why it’s still this way. Dems are fooling everyone. They have done nothing. Or why does this still keep coming up. Joe did even less. Please look into facts.

Yes, WeCanFixThis without the RacistInChief.

🙄 The police were militarized under the Bush and Obama administrations

don-the-con trump IS NOT: a lawyer, teacher, brave, compassionate, minister, doctor, ex-military, historian, scientist, literate, benefactor, honest, tax payer, trustworthy, a loyal husband, psychologist, nor physic.

He didn’t add riot, burn and loot. Just an oversight?

BarackObama MMFlint MichelleObama Why aren't you marching with us? There have been too many words and platitudes. We cannot take this anymore!

Voting is not a one day event. We have to exercise our right AND responsibility EVERYDAY.

Hmmmm - current local leadership has a lot to answer for

This make lots of sense to change power dynamic of people who disagree with president & kick him out of there.

Remember that one time Obama prosecuted cops who murdered civilians? Because I don't.

As always, the voice of reason

SHUT UP OBAMA

The guy they elected is an illiterate grifter, this is too much for him to handle. Sometimes the con goes too long!

Race relations were so much better before Obama. They are using race to divide America.

Who cares what he has to say?

Radical left is the enemy of the USA!!!

Columnist, Author, and talk show host Larry Elder has insight that would be very useful should NPR choose to interview him.

deepthoughts from Hussein, the Divider in Chief.

Obama is right: Local Police hiring, training, supervision, and prosecution is under local and State officials. This weekend’s riots were in Democrat Governors’ and Mayors’ jurisdictions, and Democrat civilians were the primary victims of the rioting Bernie Bros and Anarchists.

Obama's words mean NOTHING!

Protest while you can Brock. There won’t be any interviews while your in Leavenworth prison.

All democrats involved gov, mayor, rioters. I agree we need to vote these people out.

BarackObama TFW you run face first into the point, back up, and then run around it pretending you never saw it

Wasn’t he promoting free weed earlier?

Let's just stop arresting people for committing crimes.

Because nothing good comes from violence

He posted on Medium, but he could have released a Netflix special.

I've been saying it way before he even thought about it.

Buy guns and ammo. Democrats are rioting, killing and burning everything in site. Protect your family, business and yourselves. Elected Dems are standing down to allow and the media encourages it. Be on alert!

Didn't say much about the violent anarchy and looting

So this is realDonaldTrump fault, too?

Please BarackObama find a microphone. We have no time to read letters but we can watch you on the airwaves.

Sounds like he is admitting the elected officials are all democrat and they are all failing their people?

Everyone should vote. We might as well be voiceless if we don’t speak. beheard VoteOutHate

It's a 1000 word campaign ad. He is attempting to manipulate your emotions to vote for his party. It's really not more complicated than that.

Vote.

we need massive, organized, non violent, peaceful protests in front of the DC homes of kushner and barr

BarackObama you are the problem, stop funding AntifaTerrorist like you did fund $140B to terrorist Mullahs of Iran and IRGC_Terrorist to kill innocent Iranians and Syrians.

But... all the issues stem from Democrat communities. Minneapolis has a black police chief and is Democrat at every level of local government.

Yes, yes they do

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