Barack Obama makes call for unity at Dallas memorial
13 July 2016 1:22 PM IST13 July 2016 1:22 PM IST
The memorial paid tribute to the fallen peacemakers in blue Brent Thompson, Patrick Zamarripa, Michael Krol, Lorne Ahrens and Michael.
President Barack Obama implored Americans of all races to show more unity and understanding as he addressed an emotional memorial for five slain policemen in Dallas Tuesday.- Johnson, 25, used a high-powered rifle to kill five police officers and wound nine others in a sniper attack late Thursday. Two civilians were also hurt.
- They also seemingly triggered the deadly rampage in Dallas by black Afghanistan war veteran Micah Johnson, as a protest against police brutality was wrapping up.
- Last week, the fatal police shootings of two black men, Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota, prompted nationwide anger, with thousands of protesters taking to the streets from coast to coast.
- Obama also made a call for Bush's fellow Republicans to realize the cost of their opposition to gun control and spending on mental health and drug treatment.
- Obama also challenged a mostly-white police force and white Americans at large to admit that while the edifice of legalized racism had gone, prejudice remained.
- Tuesday's memorial service showed a weary president whose hopes for change had been thwarted. The way out, Obama said, suggesting work that will continue beyond his presidency was for Americans to open their hearts to each other. Black Americans protesting police racism, he said, must understand how hard the police's job can be.
- Obama's speech included a frank admission that his own efforts to tackle violence, guns and racism had come up short.
- I know that Americans are struggling right now with what we've witnessed over the past week. A succession of shootings, each racially charged, has led to a sense that the deepest fault lines of our democracy have suddenly been exposed, perhaps even widened, Obama said.
- The president, accompanied by First Lady Michelle Obama, leaned heavily on scripture as he ministered to a country stunned by gun violence and torn asunder by race and politics.
President Barack Obama implored Americans of all races to show more unity and understanding as he addressed an emotional memorial for five slain policemen in Dallas Tuesday.
The memorial paid tribute to the fallen peacemakers in blue Brent Thompson, Patrick Zamarripa, Michael Krol, Lorne Ahrens and Michael.
Next Story