Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana took a break from campaigning Sunday after a black man was shot dead by police in his city.
The Democrat cancelled official campaign events and returned to South Bend, where he held a press conference on the killing and met with the victim’s family. Buttigieg, who is gay, also ended up cancelling a trip to New York for an LGBT event on Monday.
“We will be striving to reach out to community members,” Buttigieg said.
Campaign detour
The shooting put the Democrat, who is running to win over a progressive left animated by anger against police, in an especially tough spot. In the late-night presser Sunday, Buttigieg admitted that he had not been responsive enough to similar incidents in the past.
“One of the reasons we’re communicating upfront right now is because of lessons learned from members of the community,” he said. “We’ve had prior cases of use of force incidents and officer-involved shootings where I hesitated, frankly, to get in front of cameras because we didn’t know very much, and it was out of our hands.”
Buttigieg announced that the police officer involved in the shooting would be placed on paid administrative leave. The officer in question responded to a call about a man breaking into cars at an apartment complex parking lot early Sunday morning.
The cop confronted the shooting victim, South Bend resident Eric Logan, who was reportedly partly inside a car. When Logan brandished a knife and approached the officer, the officer fatally shot him. Logan was brought to a hospital, but he died of his wounds.
St. Joseph County Prosecutor Ken Cotter said Monday that an autopsy showed Logan died from a shot to the abdomen. Authorities said that no police video of the encounter exists. The shooting put Buttigieg in a defensive spot, as the mayor called on witnesses to step forward and pledged that authorities would investigate the incident fully.
“I know that whenever an incident like this happens, there is tremendous hurt that can come about. That the city will be hurting and we will be striving to reach out to community members, to community leaders, to keep the channels of communication open, even as we wait for more facts to come in,” Buttigieg said during the press conference.
Leadership in question
The Democrat remained in South Bend on Tuesday to address the incident, which raised questions about his leadership. The police shooting controversy could complicate Buttigieg’s until-now highly-polished image.
Buttigieg’s initial rise to prominence was much hyped, as the Democrat built a following rapidly with his eloquent oratory and overall presentation. But the Episcopalian Democrat has caused controversy by attacking Vice President Mike Pence in an unprovoked manner, claiming earlier this year that Pence had a problem with Buttigieg’s sexuality.
The Indiana Democrat’s detour forced him to abandon a planned trip to an LGBTQ gala hosted by the Democratic party in New York City. Buttigieg’s husband Chasten, who campaigns with Buttigieg, was slated to speak at the event in his place.
With considerable help from an infatuated media, Buttigieg has elbowed his way to the second tier of primary candidates. RealClearPolitics currently has Buttigieg polling at roughly 7%.
Buttigieg has struggled to court black voters, and a police-involved shooting incident such as this likely won’t help.
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