In Baton Rouge – one of the main flash points – the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana complained Monday of police using “violent, militarized tactics” that have included more than 200 arrests in recent days.
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Obama also said its imperative not to let the “evil” of people like Dallas shooter Micah Xavier Johnson exacerbate divisions in this country.
“Faced with this violence, we wonder if the divides of race in America can ever be bridged”, Obama said in the most raw and frank address of his life.
“None of us were prepared or could be prepared for an ambush by hatred and malice”.
“I understand, I understand how Americans are feeling”, Obama said at an interfaith service in Dallas, also attended by former President George W. Bush, who lives in the city.
Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t long before Twitter users had their say on the incident, with many voicing their displeasure at Mr Bush’s moves.
“Too often we judge other groups by their worst examples, while judging ourselves by our best intentions”, said the Dallas resident.
“If we’re to sustain the unity, we need to get through these hard times”, he said. “I didn’t want something to go wrong with the president coming here, because we are exhausted”. “We may weep, but we will never whine”. “We are bound by things of the spirit, by shared commitments to common ideals”.
Obama’s predecessor, President George W. Bush, also addressed the packed hall, where five chairs were empty of people, holding folded American flags, in memory of the slain officers.
The mayor called for the city to come together as it grieves.
“We´ve heard it at times in our own homes”.
“Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action”, Obama said.
“We tell the police, ‘You’re a social worker, you’re the parent, you’re the teacher, you’re the drug counselor'”. Look, it’s Brent Thompson. Look, it’s Lorne Ahrens.
On Patrick Zamarripa: “Just 32, a former altar boy who served in the Navy and dreamed of being a cop”. Look, it’s Michael Krol.
Michael Smith, 55, an Army Ranger and family man.
The five officers were killed at a protest at the deaths of black men Alton Sterling and Philando Castle, who were killed by police officers.
The five officers were killed when Johnson opened fire during a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas on Thursday. Police are still working to nail down an exact motive.
Obama sought to reassure the nation that he understands the impact of the unsettling events of the past week – including the killing of two black men by white police officers as well as the Dallas attacks. Officers from Grand Prairie and Arlington stood vigil.
Bush listed the five officers by name, including a detail about each of them, saying that these officers had accepted a calling that set them apart from others.
Tuesday´s memorial service showed a tired president whose hopes for change had been thwarted.
Obama called on the country to confront racism and at the mean time support the ordinary Americans.
“I think the danger is that we somehow suggest that the act of a troubled individual speaks to some larger political statement across the country”.
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When he has doubts, Obama said, he remembers a passage from Ezekiel, in which the Lord promised to take “your heart of stone, and give you a heart of flesh”.
