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LOS ANGELES, March 13 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama said the civil rights violations in Ferguson, Mo., are "oppressive and objectionable and worthy of protest." He also denounced the shooting of two police officers there early Thursday. "There was no excuse for criminal acts," Obama said during an appearance on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live on Thursday night.
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"Whoever fired those shots shouldn't detract from the issue. They're criminals. They need to be arrested," Obama said.
"What we need to do is to make sure that like-minded, good-spirited people on both sides -- law enforcement who have a terrifically tough job and people who understandably don't want to be stopped and harassed just because of their race -- that we're able to work together to try to come up with some good answers."
Obama offered prayers to the families of the officers, but said the incident shouldn't detract from the issues uncovered by the recent Department of Justice report, that showed a pattern of racism in the city.
"What happened in Ferguson was oppressive and objectionable," Obama said, to which Kimmel replied, "They set us all back. They do."
Still, Obama said that the disgraced Ferguson officials are "not the majority."
"In the same way that you can't generalize about police officers who do an extraordinarily tough job -- overwhelmingly, they do it professionally -- you can't generalize about protesters who it turns out had some very legitimate grievances."
Obama's appearance on the late-night television show came as police in Ferguson continue their manhunt into early Friday for the shooter. Two officers were shot while standing in front of the Ferguson Police Department, hours after Police Chief Thomas Jackson announced his resignation. The two officers, one shot in the head and the other in the shoulder, were treated at a hospital and released.
Tensions in the city have been at a boiling point since August, when white police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown. Last week, the Department of Justice released a scathing report about Ferguson, detailing a city fraught with civil-rights violations and racism. Several police officers have since stepped down or been fired, a judge was taken off the bench and the city manager resigned in reaction to the report. City Councilwoman Kim Tihen expressed concerns that the shooting of the two officers will mar the steps the city has taken toward healing.
"I am beyond outraged by the behavior and lawlessness of the protesters who want nothing more than to destroy our city," she told The New York Times. "Enough is enough. The city has done, and continues to do, everything within its power to facilitate the change needed. I implore the residents of this city to stand together and demand an end to this violence."
