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| Obama welcomes civil rights leaders for top-level meetings after Ferguson riots | Obama welcomes civil rights leaders for top-level meetings after Ferguson riots |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Barack Obama will host young civil rights leaders and law enforcement officials on Monday for a top-level summit to deal with the fallout from riots in Ferguson a week ago. | |
| White House officials said that controversial multi-billion dollar programs that transfer military equipment to local police departments will be near the top of the agenda when Obama meets separately with his vice-president, Joe Biden, and other cabinet officials. | White House officials said that controversial multi-billion dollar programs that transfer military equipment to local police departments will be near the top of the agenda when Obama meets separately with his vice-president, Joe Biden, and other cabinet officials. |
| The grand jury decision last week not to indict white police officer Darren Wilson over the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, prompted a night of intense rioting and looting in the St Louis suburb and triggered protests across the country. | The grand jury decision last week not to indict white police officer Darren Wilson over the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, prompted a night of intense rioting and looting in the St Louis suburb and triggered protests across the country. |
| Obama was quick to condemn the violence in Missouri, but acknowledged that wider complaints over discriminatory policing were valid and not unique to Ferguson. He said: “Communities of colour aren’t just making these problems up”. | Obama was quick to condemn the violence in Missouri, but acknowledged that wider complaints over discriminatory policing were valid and not unique to Ferguson. He said: “Communities of colour aren’t just making these problems up”. |
| A White House official said: “Recent events in Ferguson, Missouri and around the country have shone a spotlight on the importance of strong, collaborative relationships between local police and the communities they protect and serve. | A White House official said: “Recent events in Ferguson, Missouri and around the country have shone a spotlight on the importance of strong, collaborative relationships between local police and the communities they protect and serve. |
| “As the country has witnessed, disintegration of trust between law enforcement agencies and the people they protect and serve can destabilise 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.” | “As the country has witnessed, disintegration of trust between law enforcement agencies and the people they protect and serve can destabilise 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.” |
| The president’s response to one of the worst bouts of race-related rioting in a generation has been criticised by some for playing down the scale of racial bias in the criminal justice system. | |
| Obama walked a fine line as protests raged in Ferguson, arguing that “the law too often feels as if it is being applied in discriminatory fashion”, but qualifying his remarks by saying racial bias was neither widespread or “the norm”. | Obama walked a fine line as protests raged in Ferguson, arguing that “the law too often feels as if it is being applied in discriminatory fashion”, but qualifying his remarks by saying racial bias was neither widespread or “the norm”. |
| The president’s afternoon of back-to-back meetings are intended to overcome the criticism of his leadership and to move forward policy initiatives begun in August, when protests over the killing of Brown, 18, began. | The president’s afternoon of back-to-back meetings are intended to overcome the criticism of his leadership and to move forward policy initiatives begun in August, when protests over the killing of Brown, 18, began. |
| Those protests, most intense in August but which continued unabated in the months leading up to the grand jury decision, were met with a forceful response from heavily armed police using military-style weaponry as well as teargas and rubber bullets. | Those protests, most intense in August but which continued unabated in the months leading up to the grand jury decision, were met with a forceful response from heavily armed police using military-style weaponry as well as teargas and rubber bullets. |
| Senators and members of Obama’s cabinet, including his attorney general, Eric Holder, expressed concern that the transfer of equipment from the Pentagon could lead to militarised police forces. | Senators and members of Obama’s cabinet, including his attorney general, Eric Holder, expressed concern that the transfer of equipment from the Pentagon could lead to militarised police forces. |
| Two weeks after Brown was shot, with protests continuing, Obama ordered a review of the programs, which transfer military equipment to local police departments. Teams of officers armed with assault weapons, dressed in military-style fatigues, were once again seen driving around Ferguson in armoured personnel carriers after last week’s protests turned violent, although the overall response by law enforcement was more calibrated. | Two weeks after Brown was shot, with protests continuing, Obama ordered a review of the programs, which transfer military equipment to local police departments. Teams of officers armed with assault weapons, dressed in military-style fatigues, were once again seen driving around Ferguson in armoured personnel carriers after last week’s protests turned violent, although the overall response by law enforcement was more calibrated. |
| A White House official said the cabinet-level meeting – the first of three meetings Obama is hosting on Monday – would “discuss” the review order by the president “and actions the administration is taking”. | A White House official said the cabinet-level meeting – the first of three meetings Obama is hosting on Monday – would “discuss” the review order by the president “and actions the administration is taking”. |
| The president will immediately after meet young civil rights leaders from across the country to discuss “broader challenges we still face as a nation, including the mistrust between law enforcement and communities of colour”, the official added. | The president will immediately after meet young civil rights leaders from across the country to discuss “broader challenges we still face as a nation, including the mistrust between law enforcement and communities of colour”, the official added. |
| Obama will host a third, separate meeting at the White House with elected officials, community, civil rights and faith leaders, and law enforcement officials from across the country. | Obama will host a third, separate meeting at the White House with elected officials, community, civil rights and faith leaders, and law enforcement officials from across the country. |