CHICAGO — President Barack Obama urged protesters upset over a grand jury decision in Ferguson, Missouri, to work for lasting change instead of taking the "easy route and just engage in destructive behavior."
Obama, who was in town to speak about immigration at the Copernicus Center in Jefferson Park, said he was sensitive to the frustrations expressed by throngs of protesters in Ferguson and elsewhere after a grand jury declined to indict Darren Wilson, a white police officer who killed an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown in August.
"It's not just made up," he said. "It's rooted in realities that have existed for a long time."
He aslso said: "The problem is not just a Ferguson problem, it is an American problem. We've got to make sure that we are bringing about change."
He acknowledged the need to "make sure that law enforcement is fair and is being applied equally."
But violent, criminal acts aren't acceptable.
"Nothing of significance, nothing of benefit results from destructive acts," he said. "For those who think what happened in Ferguson was an excuse for violence, I have no sympathy for that."
He said landmark legislation such as the Civil Rights Act and the health care law weren't passed "because a car got burned."
"Don't take the short-term, easy route and just engage in destructive behavior. Take the long-term, hard, but lasting route of working with me, governors, officials to bring about some real change," he said.
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