Rangel Sorry for Obama 'Life in Danger' Crack

It was 'entirely inappropriate,' says Harlem congressman
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 2, 2009 4:46 AM CDT
Rangel Sorry for Obama 'Life in Danger' Crack
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Charles Rangel of New York arrives for a hearing with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Capitol Hill last month.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Harlem Congressman Charles Rangel has apologized for saying that President Obama should watch his back during a planned visit to New York, reports the New York Daily News. Rangel made the crack as he commented on the accidental shooting death of black police officer Omar Edwards by a fellow white cop last week. "It was entirely inappropriate to bring the president and his wife into this discussion during their visit to New York," Rangel said yesterday.

The congressman had said earlier there's "no question that being of color puts you in jeopardy in communities like Harlem and East Harlem" and that the president "shouldn't run around East Harlem unidentified."   (More Barack Obama stories.)

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