Following the shooting of three police officers in Baton Rouge, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said that “we find ourselves amid a prolonged prayer of lament as we join to console the grieving and support the suffering”.
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(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert). Millville, N.J. police chaplain Robert Ossler prays Monday, July 18, 2016, at a makeshift memorial at the fatal shooting scene in Baton Rouge, La., where several law enforcement officers were killed on Sunday.
Police said they are seeking more than one suspect and that the public should be on the lookout for people dressed in black and carrying long guns. Together Baton Rouge leaders and the justice official talked about what has improved the relationship between the black community and police in other localities, like Oklahoma City, in recent years. Protests rocked the city following the July 5 death of a black man during a confrontation with two white police officers.
“People on all sides, people who were peacefully protesting the Sterling incident, are just as heartbroken over this as everyone in the law enforcement community”, said State Representative Barry Ivey, a Republican who represents Baton Rouge.
In these troubling times, when America stands on a forked road, these visuals and the words of those who have suffered most in the recent spate of violence must be a reminder to us that killing law enforcement officials or civilians is not the solution to our problems.
Jose Jackson spoke of his son’s integrity, and how his passion for helping other people had motivated him to become a police officer since his childhood.
Two of the slain officers were from the Baton Rouge Police Department: 32-year-old Montrell Jackson, who had been on the force for a decade, and 41-year-old Matthew Gerald, who had been there for less than a year.
‘This is a time to reaffirm that what makes us special is that we are not only a country, but also a community, ‘ he wrote.
Ganem, owner of Trey Ganem Designs in Edna, Texas, said employees spent hours researching each fallen officer, speaking to their families and designing the caskets.
The message comes three days after three cops were killed in Baton Rouge and less than two weeks after a sniper killed five Dallas cops.
Authorities say Long stalked Baton Rouge police before ambushing a handful of them. “This is wonderful”, says one of the organizers, an activist named A.J. Bohannan.
Louisiana State Police Superintendent Colonel Mike Edmonson said there was no doubt that the dead and wounded officers were intentionally targeted and assassinated. Sterling was buried just last Friday.
“Officer Gerald’s wife wanted his military background represented as well as his family”, Ganem, a former police officer himself, said in a telephone interview Thursday as he drove to Baton Rouge.
He said many police departments could also use more help purchasing bullet-proof vests.
In Washington, President Barack Obama met with Attorney General Loretta Lynch, FBI Director James Comey and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.
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Police in too many cities come to work each day fearing that any citizen they encounter may be armed and risky, regardless of the color of their skin. “I think that what happened in Baton Rouge made this event that much more important, so that we can get on the same page – so that those things that are in Baton Rouge don’t trickle over into Wichita”. ‘… This is something that is going to have to be bottom up and not just top down.
