Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump has encouraged police officers to be rougher on suspects they arrest. But when it comes to the deaths of black men at the hands of police, Trump believes those incidents are a "local matter" that "should be left up to the local authorities," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Wednesday. "Certainly a terrible incident," Sanders said when asked about the fatal police shootings of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Stephon Clark in California. "This is something that is a local matter and that's something that we feel should be left up to the local authorities at this point in time." Pressed about the national implications of the cases and the national outcry that has sounded out in the wake of numerous police shootings of black men in recent years, Sanders stood by her comments.

Source: CNN March 28, 2018 21:11 UTC