In announcing that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. would travel to Ferguson, Missouri, on Wednesday, President Obama on Monday gave no indication that he personally would be visiting the town in the immediate future — and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver is fine with that.
“I don’t think the president needs to come to Ferguson,” Mr. Cleaver said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “It adds another distortion. We don’t need that now. We don’t need any more people coming into Ferguson to help the poor people out during this time of trouble.”
“What we need is a sense of calm, and anything other than that is going to be dangerous,” the Missouri Democrat continued.
Mr. Obama’s pleas for calm from both protesters and law enforcement Monday afternoon gave way to more than two dozen arrests overnight in the St. Louis suburb as the Missouri National Guard entered the scene Monday. There have been ongoing protests since the Aug. 9 shooting death of unarmed black 18-year-old Michael Brown by a white police officer.
“I think we put enormous pressure on anyone if we create the atmosphere that ’if this person comes to town, everything is going to be OK,’ ” Mr. Cleaver said, noting that Mr. Obama is already sending Mr. Holder to the area.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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