South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski showed up at a march Friday evening for shooting victim Eric Logan. They both engaged with activists.
After Sunday’s police shooting death of Eric Logan, tempers have been running
high in South Bend. People at the march questioned the Mayor and the Chief about
the investigation, why the officer, Ryan O’Neill, hasn’t been fired, and why his
body camera wasn’t on.
Activist Eli Kantu told the crowd that Buttigieg and Ruszkowski can’t solve the
problems singlehandedly.
“We gotta get involved. This is a good thing. A tragedy can bring opportunity
if only we stick together. These two men are not going to give us all the
answers, this is not a courtroom,” Kantu said.
Buttigieg promised to send a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice about an
outside investigation. He also says he wants the community to help rewrite some
police department policies.
“And I recognize that there’s not a lot of confidence in the process so we are
going to figure out a better process. And by we, I don’t mean me I’m not going to sit behind a desk, think up a better process, put it in place and then ask you all to accept it. We are going to figure out a way to involve the community in improving the process,” Buttigieg said.
Buttigieg says there will be a town hall to present some of what the investigation
has uncovered as early as Sunday.
“I recognize that there’s not a lot of confidence in the process so we are going to figure out a better process, and by we, I don’t mean me. I’m not going to sit behind a desk, think up a better process, put it in place and then ask you all to accept it. We are going to figure out a way to involve the community in improving the process," Buttigieg assured the crowd.
