South Bend residents say 2020 hopeful Pete Buttigieg has mismanaged police violence

In a town hall on Sunday, the mayor's constituents voiced their concerns

Pete Buttigieg is facing fierce criticism for his handling of police matters and homelessness in South Bend, the midwestern town where he’s been mayor since 2012.

Last week, South Bend police fatally shot Eric Logan, a 54-year-old black man. It was found in the aftermath that the officers involved had not turned on their required body cameras.

At a town hall on Sunday regarding the incident, African American residents of South Bend chastised the mayor for his lack of enforcement in police matters, such as with body cameras. One resident yelled out: “We don’t trust you.”

Much of Mr Buttigieg’s campaign to be the Democratic presidential nominee in 2020 has been set around his accomplishments as mayor of South Bend, the fourth-largest city in Indiana. But residents say he has mismanaged both police violence and diversity among the police force, including firing they city’s first black police chief.

In Sunday’s town hall, the mayor admitted to his failures. Residents reportedly appreciated the admission, but continued to voice negative opinions.

Besides police mismanagement, South Bend’s increasing homelessness has been named as another failure of the 37-year-old candidate. A lengthy report from the New Yorker shows that the city’s unsheltered residents have been largely ignored.

Experts say the mayor’s decision to focus on ideas around the homelessness issue instead of seeking concrete results has been detrimental.

Both issues are expected to be brought up at Buttigieg’s first debate as a presidential hopeful on Thursday, where the major problems within the moderately-sized city in his control are at odds with the message of thoughtful results he’s attempted to push in his campaign.

Back home, citizens in South Bend continued vocalizing concern for the mayor’s focus on the election instead of their town, pointing Sunday night to a tornado touching down in the city following the town hall as yet another local issue that they hoped to be prioritised.