Mayor Pete skips campaign events for march in South Bend

SOUTH BEND, Ind.--- South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg has cancelled a scheduled appearance in South Carolina Friday. Instead, the 2020 presidential candidate stayed in South Bend for a march for Eric Logan.

Logan was killed by South Bend Police Sgt. Ryan O’Neill early Sunday morning. Political analyst say the timing of the shooting puts Mayor Pete’s campaign in a bind.

“The timing really couldn’t be worse,” said Jake Colwell, a political analyst. “It was a lose-lose situation. There’s no way have tried to continue on the campaign trail when something like that was happening in his city.

During his campaign, Buttigieg has struggled gaining support among black voters. Friday’s event in South Carolina would have afforded him a chance to garner support among a key Democratic constituency.

“Since the beginning of his campaign, we’ve seen at his campaign rallies, the struggle he’s had to attract black voters,” said Justin Ryan Gomez, 2020 Presidential Campaign Reporter/Producer for ABC News.

As the fallout from this shooting continues, both Gomez and Colwell agree that it was imperative that Buttigieg be seen in the city trying to calm tensions, instead of campaigning.

“The optics would have been pretty bad had he decided to keep on campaigning and just manage this over the phone. In that kind of situation, I think it was very important that he was in South Bend and back at home to manage this from the ground,” said Gomez.