SOUTH BEND, Ind. _ In the aftermath of a white police officer fatally shooting a black suspect in South Bend, a mostly African American crowd of family members, pastors and politicians gathered at a street-side vigil to voice anger over the killing, question its circumstances and emphasize their distrust of the police.
One key leader wasn't there to hear their grievances: Mayor Pete Buttigieg. The rising, 37-year-old Democrat had suspended his presidential campaign to return home, but mostly remained out of public view for three days.
When he resurfaced, it was to deliver a speech telling six newly sworn police officers that they carry the "burden" of past racial injustice between police and minorities.
"We've spent years working to build trust between city leaders, public safety officers and members of the community we are charged to serve," Buttigieg told the officers Wednesday. "Today, those same relationships we've worked so hard to build are in jeopardy. It's a reminder to all of us how fragile our work can be."
A few hours later, the mayor appeared at a civil rights center flanked by the local NAACP chapter president and supportive African American leaders, saying the work to help the city heal could begin even as the "process" into investigating what happened plays out.
The two events illustrate the delicate balance Buttigieg is trying to strike in the most marked challenge of his presidential campaign to date as his relationship with South Bend's African American community has come under renewed scrutiny.
On one hand, Buttigieg is attempting to show African American voters, whose support any Democratic presidential hopeful needs, that he understands the importance of constitutional policing and the ramifications of controversial shootings of black residents by officers. On the other, the mayor has to be careful not to draw conclusions about a shooting that's under investigation or alienate law enforcement nationally as well as the local officers he relies on to fight crime.
After Buttigieg learned Sunday that Eric J. Logan, 54, had been shot and killed by an officer responding to a report of a suspect breaking into cars, the mayor canceled a scheduled appearance at the Democratic National Committee's LGBTQ Gala in New York and called off a California fundraising swing.
As word of the candidate's decision popped up on cable TV news tickers, those at the vigil in South Bend clutched white candles and metallic blue and silver balloons as they raised questions about police cameras that failed to record the shooting, Sgt. Ryan O'Neill's decision to use deadly force and previous accusations of racist comments against the officer.
"Mayor Pete should have been here. I'm surprised he wasn't," the Rev. Lonell Hudson of South Bend's Greater New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church said afterward. "This is one that everyone knows he has to get a grip on and do something about, because if he doesn't, his chances at the presidency are slim and none."
James Mueller, Buttigieg's former chief of staff and the Democratic nominee to succeed him as mayor, was among the last to leave the gathering. He described the vigil as a no-win situation for his friend.
"It comes from a genuine place, that he wants to make sure the community is feeling supported by their mayor, but it also is no secret that he's on the presidential trail now and you've got to temper any major deviations, because people will read into that," Mueller said. "He can get criticized either way."
Buttigieg decided not to run the risk of overshadowing a family in mourning, a move that also avoided the possibility of any public interactions with people upset at what happened.
"I took some advice from community leaders on this," he said, "and reached the conclusion that it would be more of a distraction if I were to attend."
