President Obama called the Baltimore riots “counterproductive” in remarks today at the White House:
“There’s no excuse for the kind of violence that we saw yesterday,” Obama said. “It’s stealing, it’s arson.”
Of the rioters, the president added, “they need to be treated as criminals.”
“This has been a slow rolling crisis,” said Obama.
The president said the police need to get better as well. And they need to admit that there are some bad police officers. “There are some police who aren’t doing the right thing,” he said.
Obama urged the country to do some soul-searching. “This is not new,” he said. “This has been going on for decades.”
