Funerals are set to begin for the five officers slain by a sniper during a protest last week in downtown Dallas.
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Sgt. Michael Smith Officer Michael Smith was one of the five police officers to be shot and killed at a protest in Dallas, Texas, July 7, 2016. Sgt. Smith will receive another service on Thursday, in the church where he worked as a security guard.
Boston police and Massachusetts State Police are not formally sending representatives to Dallas, but officials at both agencies said they expected dozens of officers and troopers to travel on their own time and at their own expense to attend the services.
The nearly simultaneous services for 27-year Dallas police veteran Michael Smith and Dallas Area Rapid Transit officer Brent Thompson came six days after their deaths in a downtown massacre that killed five cops.
The Chicago Police Department is looking to help the families of the slain Dallas officers and is asking the public to join in. “It’s important that they show support to the people from the Dallas Police Department, the Dallas Area Regional Transit Authority and the families of the victims”. Lorne Ahrens, in Plano, Texas.
The funerals for officers Michael Krol and Patrick Zamarripa have been scheduled for the weekend.
Lt. Ruben Diaz says all of the funerals they serve hold equal importance, but to lose so many officers at once does make this assignment a little different.
Thompson’s wife Emily, a fellow DART officer whom he had recently married, told the audience that the shooter, Micah Johnson, was a coward. “You know your hate made us stronger”, she said, according to ABC News.
Unlike yesterday’s joint memorial service, the funerals were individual and took place in three different churches.
Obama then addressed fears gripping a nation caught in a bitter debate over policing after the recent police killings of two black men, Philando Castile in Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Louisiana, earlier in the week.
“I challenge you to change your focus, your thoughts and allow your heart to recall the good memories”, Wyatt said.
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Mourners in the Dallas suburb of Plano attended a service of Ahrens and learned of his time with the Los Angeles County sheriff’s department.
