Earlier this week, Louisiana prosecutors joined the Justice Department in not pressing charges against the Baton Rouge police officers who were involved in the fatal shooting of Alton Sterling in July 2016. Naturally, the high-profile shooting death of an unarmed black man by police officers came up during today’s White House Press Briefing, and it went about as well as expected.
When asked about the shooting and other similar shootings, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the Sterling shooting “a local matter” while reaffirming that President Trump was committed to law enforcement. “In these specific cases, and these specific incidences, those would be left up to local authorities to make that determination, and not something for the federal government to weight into,” she said.
After another reporter questioned the logic of calling something that is happening throughout the country a local issue, Sanders provided some basic sentiments about bringing the country together (i.e. the economy) before describing how the president has already done plenty to make the country safer. “You’ve seen the president take an active role over the last several months in school safety, in looking at ways,” she said. “We want to do that across the board whether a kid is in a school or at home. No matter where they are in this country, kids should feel safe.”
Sanders concluded by bringing up Trump’s efforts to secure the nation’s borders and stop gangs. Judging by the Justice Department’s lawsuit against California over sanctuary cities, however, aren’t these local matters too?