Ahead of the first Democratic presidential debate, MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle asked South Bend, IN Mayor Pete Buttigieg Wednesday if he should be participating in a debate amid the recent fatal police shooting of Eric Logan.

Buttigieg has been criticized by some for his handling of Logan’s shooting while also campaigning for president.

“Your city is in crisis,” Ruhle noted to Buttigieg.

She continued, “Walk me through what the last two weeks have been like and, really, given what’s going on at home, should you be skipping this debate?”

Buttigieg shot down the idea of skipping the debate, shifting towards the racism in the United States that leads to black people “being literally policed to death.”

“No, we have to be able to do many things at once, but this is a moment when my community is in anguish,” Buttigieg responded. “We’ve been on the ground working with community leaders, working with community members trying to make sure that the facts can emerge. But also recognizing that the anguish over what has happened is not only about a family that has lost a loved one.”

“But also this ties to a much bigger set of issues … the feeling among black Americans that they are being literally policed to death, and making sure that we have a way forward on that. This is not just a policy question, this is a moral question. And everything that all of us do, we do in the shadow of systemic racism that has poisoned the relationship between communities of color and police departments everywhere in the country,” he added.

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