“I’m so happy to see so many people here today who are willing to stand up and use their voice and fight for what we need in this community,” the voice said. “But it is not a black issue; it is not a black versus white issue. It’s not even a blue versus black issue. This is our problem, and if we share in the problem, we have a much better chance of sharing in the solution. But it’s going to take time. It’s gonna take effort, and it’s a Herculean task, to be honest.

“But I would love to see South Bend be that city that everybody in the country can point to and say this is how people live in a community and this is what community is all about. …We can be that city, but we’ve got to come together and we have to start listening to each other.”

Buttigieg, the young presidential hopeful, did not speak those words. He wasn’t there. 

….It was, of all people, Notre Dame basketball coach Ann “Muffet” McGraw. The city was honoring the women’s runner-up NCAA finish, and the coach used her time at the microphone to express her solidarity with the crowd, most of whom were not there to hear her speak, or to honor her team.

Nonetheless, she received a loud, throaty and lengthy standing ovation. Her players, towering before the crowd of more than 150, beamed.

…More than a dozen African-American city officials, community leaders, pastors and voters who spoke to IndyStar echoed a troubling sentiment: Buttigieg hasn’t spent enough time talking directly to people of color or trying to solve systemic socioeconomic problems within those neighborhoods since taking office.

…The Rev. Graylin Watson of Jesus is Emmanuel Church said the mayor needs to reform the police department. He referenced several incidents in which he believes South Bend officers acted improperly, perhaps most notably a 2012 incident in which three police officers went to the wrong home searching for a suspect and punched, stunned and handcuffed a black man they found sleeping there.

…Davis said Buttigieg has failed to reform the police department. He shared with IndyStar an open letter he wrote to Buttigieg in 2016 that called for police to be required to use body cameras, for a citizen board to review police misconduct and for more diversity within the police department. He said none of those things have happened, until Buttigieg required body cameras to be used after this latest shooting. 

…It doesn’t feel like Buttigieg understands what he’s hearing from people of color and he needs to come back to South Bend to listen.

…“There are subcultures within our city that don’t feel safe,” she said. “We don’t feel safe. We don’t trust the process; we don’t trust the people. We don’t feel safe.”

…Station host and owner Sylvester Williams later told IndyStar there’s little evidence Buttigieg is reaching out to more than a handful of people. 

…”I think that he is struggling to find solutions, because it appeared that he has not really felt the pain of the people,” Williams said. “He has somewhat been more analytical, political and somewhat separated from this area of pain with the people.” 

…Logan’s family members don’t think the police’s version of his death adds up, and it’s become clear many others in the community also have questions. 

…Logan’s brother, Tyree Bonds, told IndyStar that Logan has no history of theft and wouldn’t attack an armed officer with a knife. 

…Bonds questioned whether his brother was rooting through cars at all, and thinks he was walking by the apartment complex to visit his mother when police arrived. The racial remarks O’Neill allegedly made also concern Bonds.

…Police say the officer had not activated his body camera. 

…Logan later died at an area hospital after being transported in a squad car instead of an ambulance, a decision repeatedly questioned by Logan’s family and others. They wonder whether that contributed to his death.

“The ambulance department is two blocks away from the scene, so it’s not like the ambulance had to come from 5 miles away,” said Vernado Malone Sr., a friend of Logan’s who works as a paramedic.

…”When you have a few officers [acting badly,] it tarnishes the whole police department,” Jones said. “Because of the fact they seem like they are protected and things are covered up. That is what this community is feeling. You have these bad officers on your staff, and you don’t dismiss them, and you keep giving excuses for their behavior, and these things keep matriculating, and so that creates a friction between the police department and the community.”

……”His campaign team lacks diversity,” Davis said. “Why would you want to run for president and have a non diverse team? …Most of the people on his team are under the age of 40. You have to have a combination of people [from different backgrounds] who are strong to have a strong team.”

Democratic debate draws Pete Buttigieg away from a hurting South Bend

Yup