Actor Michael K. Williams — best known for playing Omar Little on the HBO series “The Wire” — was at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. on Thursday for a roundtable on criminal justice reform.
A confused-looking Williams, sporting a suit and sunglasses, briefly walked into press secretary Josh Earnest’s daily briefing before exiting.
{mosads}President Obama stopped by the meeting and urged attendees to press members of Congress for a vote on criminal-justice reform legislation, according to the White House.
“The discussion focused on actions the administration has taken to enhance the fairness and effectiveness of the criminal justice system, the need for continued reforms, and the opportunity for Congress to take bipartisan action on legislation that has advanced in both the House and the Senate,” an official said.
Actor Hill Harper, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, NAACP President Cornell Brooks and former Bush Attorney General Michael Mukasey were among the more than 20 public officials, business leaders and civil-rights advocates who attended the meeting.
The White House is trying to generate momentum behind sentencing reform legislation, hoping for a vote in the lame-duck session of Congress.
Obama urged congressional leaders to move on a package of bills reducing sentences for non-violent drug offenders after the November elections.
“We had an opportunity to talk about some initiatives that had been moving forward on a bipartisan basis that have not yet been fully resolved, but where we still have a chance to make a difference, like criminal justice reform,” he said after their Monday meeting.
While measures have support from Republicans and Democrats, backers face an uphill battle to get the legislation passed.
Law-and-order Republicans have balked at the measures, arguing that cutting short sentences for drug offenders could lead to an uptick in crime.
That has caused GOP leaders to balk at holding a vote so far, but advocates hope the political divisions over the measures will heal after Election Day.
It’s perhaps unsurprising that Williams scored an invitation to Thursday’s roundtable. Obama has called Little — a charismatic, shotgun-wielding gay man who robbed drug dealers — his favorite character on “The Wire.”
“It’s got to be Omar, right? I mean, that guy is unbelievable, right?” the president told sports media personality Bill Simmons in a 2012 interview.