Tuesday, 12 July 2016

President Obama to Address Memorial for Dallas Officers


A policeman visits a makeshift memorial at the Dallas police headquarters, July 11, 2016, in Dallas.
A policeman visits a makeshift memorial at the Dallas police headquarters, July 11, 2016, in Dallas.

President Barack Obama is speaking Tuesday in Dallas, Texas at a memorial service for five police officers killed last week in a sniper attack during a demonstration.
It will be the 11th time during his presidency that he has addressed a community following a mass shooting.
Joining him are his Vice President Joe Biden and his predecessor, former President George W. Bush. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama wants to try to comfort people across the country after the Dallas attack and deadly shootings of African-Americans by police officers that drew renewed protests in many cities.
"The president recognizes that it's not just people in Dallas who are grieving, but people all across the country who are concerned about the violence that so many Americans have witnessed in the last week or so," Earnest said. "And the truth is, this is violence that we've been witnessing not just in the last week, but far too often over the last several years."
Earnest said Obama will also hold a meeting Wednesday at the White House with law enforcement officials, activists, academics and civil rights leaders to try to push forward dialogue on finding solutions to the disconnect between police and people in many communities.
Ahead of the memorial service, more than 1,000 people attended a candlelight vigil Monday night in Dallas where Police Chief David Brown compared officers to super heroes.
Among the tributes honoring Dallas shooting victim outside Dallas police headquarters, a sign urges the country to “Stop the madness,” July 11, 2016. (M. O'Sullivan/VOA)
Among the tributes honoring Dallas shooting victim outside Dallas police headquarters, a sign urges the country to “Stop the madness,” July 11, 2016. (M. O'Sullivan/VOA)
"Give us a job to do, we'll focus on accomplishing the mission. So what's our mission today? It's helping these families understand how to conquer this tragedy," he said.
In addition to the five officers killed, nine other officers and two civilians were wounded in Thursday's attack.
Those who worked alongside the slain officers spoke about their colleagues, including Officer Marcie St. John, who told the vigil about her partner officer Michael Smith.
"I and those that loved Mike the most choose to honor his legacy by choosing -- because it is a choice -- not to let our anger drag us into a darker place, but instead we choose to continue Mike's fight for good and to not let the evil prevail. We will continue to protect and serve this wonderful city that Mike loved so much."
Earlier Monday, Chief Brown said he and his family received death threats after the shooting and that officers are concerned for their safety. He also said police in the United States are under pressure to do too much.
"Every societal failure, we put it off on the cops to solve," he said. "Not enough mental health funding, let the cops handle it. Not enough drug addiction funding, let's give it to the cops. Here in Dallas, we got a loose dog problem, let's have the cops chase loose dogs. You know, schools fail, give it to the cops."
Investigators are looking into the background of gunman Micah Johnson, who died when police used a robot armed with explosives against him.
Chief Brown said police will "search every lead" to ensure they can rule out that other people were involved in the attack.
He said police are examining 170 hours of video from cameras worn by officers, as well as footage from dashboard cameras inside police cars and video from retail store security cameras along the streets where the shootings occurred.
The police chief also said it was "not an ethical dilemma" for him to use the robot to kill Johnson, apparently the first time a U.S. police force has employed such a tactic to end a criminal rampage.
"We're convinced that this suspect had other plans, and thought that what he was doing was righteous and believed that he was going to target law enforcement, make us pay for what he saw as law enforcement's efforts to punish people of color," Brown said.
Bomb making materials and a rambling journal were found at Johnson's home during a search.
U.S. law enforcement officials said Johnson did not have a criminal record.
In an emailed statement, the U.S. Army said Johnson was a carpentry and masonry specialist during his time in the service from March 2009 to April 2015. He was deployed to Afghanistan from November 2013 to July 2014.
Johnson left Afghanistan when a fellow soldier brought sexual harassment charges against him, saying he needed mental health counseling
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