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Oct-09-2015 23:05printcomments

President Obama Gives Honor to Roseburg Victims

"We're going to have to come together as a country, but today is about the families," Obama said.

Presidential helicopter
Presidential helicopter (Eugene Airport)
Photo courtesy: Jonathan Fellows

(ROSEBURG, Ore.) - The president's motorcade traveled from the local airport to Roseburg High School where he will meet with families of the deceased from last week's shooting. The ride took about 10-15 minutes and he got to the school around 12:45.

There were several hundred people clustered outside the gate to the airport and in the parking lot of a nearby Home Depot, pretty typical for a presidential visit.

Most of the people were taking photos with their phones. Some of the people carried signs. About half welcomed Obama to the town. The other half were negative or seemed to be protesting his calls action to tighten the nation's gun laws. That's a rough estimate.

Some of the signs visible from the motorcade: "Please leave us in peace" "Welcome to Roseburg" "We support our Sheriff" "WELCOME" "Gun Free Zones are for sitting ducks" "Obama is wrong" "Nothing Trumps our Liberty" "UCC Strong" for Umpqua Community College.

Obama spent about an hour with the families at Roseburg High School. After meeting with them he gave some brief remarks. He spoke softly and it was hard to hear him over the buzz of motors nearby.

“Oregon Governor Kate Brown joined the President for the car ride from Roseburg Regional Airport to Roseburg High School," said White House spokeswoman Brandi Hoffine.

"The Governor updated the President on the state’s ongoing efforts to provide support and resources to the families affected by the Umpqua Community College shooting and the entire community of Roseburg.

"The President expressed his thanks for the work that Governor Brown is doing as well as the efforts of other state and local officials during this difficult time.”

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AFTER MEETING WITH THE FAMILIES
OF VICTIMS OF THE UMPQUA COMMUNITY COLLEGE SHOOTING

Roseburg High School
Roseburg, Oregon
1:41 P.M. PDT

THE PRESIDENT:
I just want to first of all say thank you to Mayor Rich. I want to thank Governor Brown. Most importantly, I want to thank the entire community and the entire state of Oregon for coming together at this terrible time to support the families.

I just had a chance to talk to them. Obviously, in moments like these, words aren’t going to bring their loved ones back. But the one thing that they shared is how much they appreciate the entire UCC community coming together, how much they appreciate all their neighbors, all their friends, and people all across the country who have offered to help, sent their thoughts and their prayers.

What I just told the Mayor is that if there’s anything that we can do at the federal level to help the community heal from this loss, obviously we're going to be there. And I know that flying out here with some of the members of the Oregon delegation, they feel the same way. And the Governor, obviously, is paying a lot of attention to how we can be most helpful to the families. But there are going to be I think moments as we go forward where we're going to have to come together and figure out how do we stop things like this from happening. And I’ve got some very strong feelings about this, because when you talk to these families, you’re reminded that this could be happening to your child, or your mom, or your dad, or your relative, or your friend. And so we're going to have to come together as a country to see how we can prevent these issues from taking place.

But today, it’s about the families and their grief, and the love we feel for them. And they surely do appreciate all the support that they’ve received.

.....
The president did not say anything about gun control. After he was finished, he placed his hand gently on the governor's back as they walked to his waiting limo.

Source: White House Press Office / POOL

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