Aide: Obama reacted as parent to Florida shooting
Web Producer: Marissa Pasquet
WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP/KGUN9-TV) - A top presidential adviser says President Barack Obama's decision to comment on the shooting death of an African-American teenager in Florida was motivated by parental instinct more than the incident's emergence as a racial issue.
Senior White House adviser David Plouffe says Obama reacted instinctively as a parent last week in saying that Americans needed "some soul searching", in the wake of the slaying of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by a neighborhood watch volunteer. The gunman was not charged, prompting probes by the Justice Department and local authorities.
President Obama said he supported the investigations, noting: "If I had son, he'd look like Trayvon."
Speaking in the news Sunday, Plouffe said Obama, "was speaking powerfully about this as a parent." Plouffe added that, "no matter gender or race, this is a tragedy."
The Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Tucson is sponsoring a rally at Quincy Douglass Park on the corner of 36th Street and Kino Blvd. at 5:00 p.m., Sunday, for Florida teenager Trayvon Martin who was shot to death last month by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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