Obama: 'If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon'

By BYRON TAU |
3/23/12 10:23 AM EDT

President Barack Obama weighed in Friday on the shooting of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, calling it a national tragedy — and saying that the young man reminded him of his own children.

"When I think about this boy, I think about my own kids," Obama said in the Rose Garden. "I think every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this. And that everybody pull together."

Obama has come under fire from some black leaders for failing to comment on a case that has become a major national story — and brought thousands of Americans into the streets for demonstrations calling for the arrest of Martin's shooter. One black leader even wondered why Obama called a Georgetown student who was attacked by Rush Limbaugh but not Martin's family. Obama's comments Friday represent the first time the president has addressed the growing controversy.

"My main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin. You know, if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon," Obama said. "All of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves."

"Obviously, this is a tragedy. I can only imagine what these parents are going through," Obama said. "All of us have to do some soul searching to figure out how something like this has happened."

(Also on POLITICO: Geraldo Rivera: Trayvon Martin killed due to 'hoodie')

The president was careful not to comment too extensively on an active investigation on both the federal and state levels, noting that as head of the executive branch, the Department of Justice reports to him. Earlier this week, under intense public pressure, the FBI and the DOJ joined the investigation into the Martin case.

Obama's answer also reflects a departure from usual precedent. The president, who was ostensibly announcing the nomination of a new World Bank head, usually does not take questions shouted by reporters at the end of his prepared remarks — but today, he made an exception for the Martin case.

Martin, a middle-class black teen with no history of trouble, was shot and killed in Sanford, Fla., a community just north of Orlando. His alleged assailant, George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain and criminal justice student, apparently killed him on Feb. 26 as the 17-year-old walked home from a convenience store near his suburban neighborhood to his father's house a few blocks away.

Before the shooting, Zimmerman, who has a weapons permit, told a police dispatcher there was "a real suspicious guy" who looked "like he was up to no good or on drugs or something" and looked to have "something in his waistband." Against the dispatcher's advice, Zimmerman chased Martin on foot and eventually shot him. Martin was unarmed, carrying only a bag of candy and an iced tea he had just purchased.

The case exploded into a national story after reports that the town's police department had not arrested or charged Zimmerman, who says he was acting in self-defense and pointed to a state law allowing him to respond with deadly force. On Wednesday, Sanford's police chief announced he'll take a voluntary leave of absence, effective immediately, to avoid becoming a distraction in the investigation. And on late Thursday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott appointed a new prosecutor to investigate the killing.

The White House had originally said not to expect Obama to stand at a lectern and speak about the tragedy anytime soon. Though staffers and Democratic operatives interviewed Wednesday said the shooting has been a hot topic inside the West Wing — and that Obama is monitoring the situation closely — they're wary of a repeat of the uproar caused by Obama's 2009 comment at a news conference that a Cambridge, Mass., policeman "acted stupidly" in arresting Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.

That remark, hailed by African Americans but condemned by some whites and many conservatives, unleashed a firestorm of criticism. The furor lasted for weeks and didn't subside until after Obama's awkward White House "beer summit."

The White House had said Obama wasn't likely to talk about the Martin case because — unlike the Gates arrest and the firing of Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod over video of what appeared to be racially insensitive remarks — the shooting is a law-enforcement matter still under investigation by local police as well as the Justice Department. And Obama was careful in his remarks to steer clear of specifics on the case.

On Tuesday, White House press secretary Jay Carney delivered the administration's official position on the case.

"We here in the White House are aware of the incident, and we understand that the local FBI office has been in contact with the local authorities and is monitoring the situation," Carney said. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to Trayvon Martin's family but obviously, we're not going to wade into a local law-enforcement matter."

Attorney General Eric Holder announced late Tuesday that a team of investigators from the FBI and other Justice offices were headed to Sanford to investigate the case and monitor developments. But just before federal investigators departed for Florida, the Congressional Black Caucus called for the shooting to be investigated as a federal hate crime.

Martin's death "compromises the integrity of our legal system and sets a horrific precedent of vigilante justice," Congressional Black Caucus Chair Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) said in a statement. "As a nation we cannot, should not, and will not ignore, Trayvon's brutal murder and the inconceivable fact that his killer remains free. ... Trayvon had a family, friends and a future all taken away because of the color of his skin."

Joe Williams contributed to this story.