President Barack Obama believes that the nationwide demonstrations over Ferguson and Eric Garner’s death are “necessary” to trigger America’s “conscience” so long as they are “peaceful.”

In an interview with BET, Obama said that said that sometimes a “country’s conscience has to be triggered by some inconvenience” and that a lot of people who saw the Eric Garner video felt uncomfortable. Obama hailed the “value” of “peaceful protests,” organizing and activism because they remind society that more progress needs to be made on race relations.

Despite widespread riots and looting in Ferguson and other cities like Berkeley, Obama said most of the protests have been “absolutely” peaceful and emphasized that “as long as they’re peaceful they’re necessary.”