There is "no question that the nation will overcome" the tensions in Ferguson, Missouri, but President Barack Obama's involvement has only made things worse, says Niger Innis, the national spokesman for the Congress of Racial Equality.
"There is also no question that history will look on this presidency as one of the worst and most ethnically, racially divisive presidencies since Woodrow Wilson resegregated the federal government almost 100 years ago," Innis told John Bachman on "America's Forum" on
Newsmax TV Tuesday.
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"The president did rush to judgment, did he not?" Innis asked.
"He went to the United Nations and elevated Ferguson to that of a human rights violation, an atrocity that occurred around the world," he said.
"His own attorney general compared the Ferguson situation and Michael Brown's death to the death of Emmett Till, who was killed in Mississippi while whistling at a white girl," Innis said.
"There's no question that these public officials, Congressional Black Caucus and many others rushed to judgment on this question," he added.
Innis said that he applauds St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch for the decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson for killing the black teenager, since there was not enough evidence to support an indictment, but he said that Brown should not be dead.
"I do not believe that Darren Wilson should've been charged, but Brown should not have lost his life," he said.
"Brown and Trayvon Martin should've gotten their butts kicked badly. They should've been handled physically, but they should not have been killed," Innis said.
"One of the crises that we have to deal with is a crisis of law enforcement officials that are not physically capable enough to handle without taking out the gun," he said.
"Wilson had to use that gun. I am convinced of that.
"But a police officer should not be in a situation where physically they cannot handle a particular situation, and that was the tragedy," he said.
Following the announcement that Wilson would not be indicted, the Ferguson area broke out in protests and riots, which included looting and setting fire to local buildings.
"It's tragic that so many businesses, including black businesses, have been destroyed," Innis said.
"When the circus leaves town there's going to be an economic devastation in the wake of that mischief, but it could've been much, much worse," he sad.
"You could have had lives lost last night at the hands of police officers trying to do their job."
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