Police officers killed in Dallas

[RosyDaisy]

This is all over CNN. Multiple police officers were killed and wounded during a protest in Dallas over the police killings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota. No links. It's on every news site

ETA: 1 officer dead, 11 injured. Also there's a bomb threat. It is believed 1 or moe civilian snipers who killed the cop.

[ALM7]

Thank you @RosyDaisy for starting this thread.  I posted about it in the No Holds Barred-Gun Control thread.  I've never started a topic before, and wasn't sure what forum to put it under.

This so sad.  My thoughts for families, friends, and victims.  We must stop this madness. 

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I moved below my original post ...it has a current news link.

Shooting around 9:00 pm cdt Dallas Tx.  7/7/16

Active shooting as of 10:30 pm , possibly 4-5 officers shot (1 is deceased), at least 7 bystanders wounded.

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Protests-in-Dallas-Over-Alton-Sterling-Death-385784431.html

"The shootings took place as a rally and march in downtown was ending. The rally was held to show solidarity with communities affected by officer-involved shootings this week in Louisiana and Minnesota."

10:35 pm Update....10 officers are reported wounded. 3 of the 10 are now reported deceased.

Hunting for 2 snipers

[Khan]

This makes me so damned sad and passed off. Shooting people is wrong so let's go shoot 'the other side!'  A couple of the reports I just read are saying snipers took the shots at the police. 

[RosyDaisy]

4 officers dead now per CNN

[Mecca]

Looks like another active shooting going on in the area. This is unreal. Sad and sickening. 

[RosyDaisy]

People are fed up with the police and the shooting of black men. This is what happens when the police and local governments don't listen and dismiss concerns. This is what happen when too many people have too many guns. All hell breaks loose.

I am NOT condoning violence. I' just stating the obvious.

[anniebgood]

This is awful. I'm listening to the video and it's an assault rifle. 

God Bless the families of the police officers whose lives were taken tonight and those who were injured,

 

 

[Snarkylark]

People are losing their ever loving minds! Wth???

ALL lives matter! Killing innocent POs because there may be bad ones (haven't seen the latest videos and can't judge them because I don't know what I would do in a split second decision if I thought my life was in danger) does NOT solve the problem. It only makes officers more on edge. 

[mallallory]

Jesus.  I had a thought earlier today that something like this was going to happen.  Not snipers specifically, more like a mob rising up against police at a protest.  I thought it would be later in the summer.  

This is awful and sickening.  I wish people would stop killing other people.  I so want for there to be peace. 

[iweartanktops]

1 minute ago, RosyDaisy said:

People are fed up with the police and the shooting of black men. This is what happens when the police and local governments don't listen and dismiss concerns. This is what happen when too many people have too many guns. All hell breaks loose.

I am NOT condoning violence. I' just stating the obvious.

Yeah, I'm sick over all of it. The racism and oppression, people wanting to ignore it, and now even more violence.

I'm grateful for law enforcement, in general. I respect them and their families and the sacrifices they make for us. But there are some who should NOT hold the position of power. 

Killing them isn't the answer, though. This is just so wrong. All of it. 

[Destiny]

I want so badly to be furious, but I'm not, and that makes me fucking angry. I can't quite put into words how I feel, but it's a mix of "why bother getting angry because we are just gonna do NOTHING. AGAIN." and some just exhaustion, and a side of "I fucking hate humanity". It pisses me off that I'm not angry....I'm just kinda numb.

That said, I feel for the affected families and victims. I wish them as much peace and comfort as they can have under the circumstances.

[Meridae]

This makes me so, so angry. As someone who lives most of the year in a community affected by one of the recent shootings, I'm deeply frightened by what I may be returning to later in the summer. Killing innocents is wrong- and I am NOT saying anyone/everyone killed by a cop is innocent nor am I claiming they are guilty- but hurting those who had absolutely nothing to do with the situations being protested is sickening. What's to stop people from going after non-cops for perceived slights? Or going after black individuals for retaliation over the cops recently killed in Dallas? And of course I simply cannot imagine what the families are going through.

 Honestly though, the possibility that someone just wanted to murder and took the first opportunity to present itself is a million times scarier. More whack jobs are not what we need.

[RosyDaisy]

Oh, I do have sympathy for the officers, and I agree this is all very wrong. I have LEOs in my family. However, it appears local governments and LO are not willing listening to the public. Instead they act as if they don't give a damn.

[iweartanktops]

@Meridae, with all due respect, Black people have been living this for MANY years. It's just on video now. I think some people thought the footage would help get justice. So far it hasn't. I don't agree with what's going on, but it's not shocking at all. 

[Meridae]

9 minutes ago, iweartanktops said:

@Meridae, with all due respect, Black people have been living this for MANY years. It's just on video now. I think some people thought the footage would help get justice. So far it hasn't. I don't agree with what's going on, but it's not shocking at all. 

I never claimed injustices towards the black community haven't been happening for years. Simply that it worries me about what impact the death of an individual will have on my community, and I am concerned that the violence will spread to target even more people who have nothing to do with any of these situations. Media sensationalism plays a huge role in fanning flames and I don't want more people in harms way because of whack jobs who cannot separate perpetrators from innocents.

Racism is a horrible thing and we have to ensure that no one else suffers due to the color of their skin, national origin, or any other societal divider.

[Mecca]

May I bring something up? Are we sure this police officers shooting has anything to do with the protest or protestors? Could it be the two snipers were already planning an attack and used this situation to carry it out? The suspects seemed well trained and armed, appear to be wearing body armor, and planted bombs. Just typing out loud I guess. 

[Mercer]

This is horrific. 

The murder of black men and women is wrong. The murder of police officers is also wrong. The anger at the treatment of black people at the hands of law enforcement is 100% legitimate. This is not the answer, though. Killing just fuels a cycle of more and more violence.

[Mecca]

These snipers cannot be part of the Black Lives Matter movement or protests. The protests have been peaceful around the country. Violence is what they are fighting against. It just all seems so well planned out by some other group of people that have an agenda and took advantage of the protests. There are stupid racist all over the place that want to pin anything and everything on the Black Lives Matter movement and make it out to be something it is not. I don't want this movement tainted. It is important. It needs to continue. 

I am just pissed off and mad as hell. Two men's deaths caught on camera. 7 wounded and four dead officers. I watched that video that Diamond Reynolds uploaded and cried like a baby while taking a shower today. I don't understand. I just don't. I am pissed that Diamond had to act so polite and calm to the officer in question because she was fearing she, too, would get shot. I am pissed that her child had to witness the situation. I am pissed that the first thing the media does is dig up arrest records on the victim when one of these situations occur. I am pissed people can purchase guns and shoot down cops in Dallas during a peaceful protest. This needs to stop. The violence needs to stop. No more dying.

[Geechee Girl]

I can't for Dallas right now. Maybe on another day. I have reached the max of my grief. This is too much.

[RosyDaisy]

@Meridae This isn't about one death. Many black men have been shot, killed, and been victims of excessive force. Perhaps the officers should have thought about the impacts before they did what they did.

[KnittingOwl]

Death toll in Dallas in up to 5. 

 

The violence in the country and the shooting deaths of black men is terrible. It makes me frightened to have a child. I cannot imagine the terror of a mother to a black son. 

I was talking to a friend about the riots in 1992. I don't really remember and I didn't think I would see a situation like that again. Sadly, there hasn't been change for the black community. It is sickening. 

[nastyhobbitses]

4 hours ago, Destiny said:

I want so badly to be furious, but I'm not, and that makes me fucking angry. I can't quite put into words how I feel, but it's a mix of "why bother getting angry because we are just gonna do NOTHING. AGAIN." and some just exhaustion, and a side of "I fucking hate humanity". It pisses me off that I'm not angry....I'm just kinda numb.

That said, I feel for the affected families and victims. I wish them as much peace and comfort as they can have under the circumstances.

At this point I just wish we could hard-reboot humanity. I remember after Orlando all I could think was "20 dead white kids didn't change a damn thing, 49 dead black and Latino gay guys sure as shit won't". I remember thinking after Dylann Roof that if police officers strangling a guy to death in broad fucking daylight didn't change people's minds about racism, some squirrelly little white kid going and mowing down church parishioners with a gun sure as shit won't. No one's going to change anything. One presidential candidate is a lunatic who wants things to stay how they are, the other one's under investigation for corruption and probably only gives a shit about the marginalized when they might vote for her. Police officers think it's OK to shoot a guy in the fucking face in front of his kid because of a broken fucking tail light, and then people get fed up with that shit and kill cops. There's just no fucking point anymore. Fuck it. I can't even bring myself to be sad about this because it's all inevitable.

[usedtobenice]

I live in Dallas. This is heartwrenching. The deadliest day for law enforcement since 9/11. I have friends whose parents are Dallas pd. Everyone is devastated. This was a peaceful protest. I was talking to a woman tonight who is a Dallas pd dispatcher. She told me there was no calls to 911 about the protests. It was evil people who did this evil crime. I'm so sorry, I know how disjointed this post is. I'm just devastated.

[sparkles]

This is not the way...

[CoveredInBees]

I agree @sparkles I have no idea what the US can do to solve it though without dealing with the gun control issue.

Society just seems so fractured at the moment