One of the three officers killed in the attack was actually Alexander’s cousin, Montrell Jackson. Each of the officers had a separate funeral earlier in the week. Reporters were also asked to leave after the initial address to law enforcement and the community, to encourage everyone to speak without fear of publicity.
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Authorities say the gunman was targeting police officers in the July 17 shooting.
East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreax said what meant to cause pain, has brought the community closer than ever.
“They felt it wasn’t just an attack on the Baton Rouge Police Department”, he said. While there, they changed into their church outfits and kept driving, unaware that Gavin Long had just shot six officers outside a Baton Rouge convenience store. Biden emphasized that Long had shot and killed both white and black officers alike. “The assassin didn’t make any distinction between if he was killing a black officer or a white officer”.
“They wanted to (travel to the funeral)”, he said. “We joke about it sometimes, and I know it would never happen, but if it did, it would take weeks to clean up the mess”. He said he knew the heartache the wives and loved ones feel over their losses can not be touched now, and said he wanted the loved ones of the fallen officers to know the entire country has been touched by their loss. Police stopped them in Addis, several miles away, even though their vehicle did not fit the suspect car’s description. “Everybody is learning [your husbands’] stories”, Biden said. He said now the city and the country have to heal.
“They were defined by their courage”, he said. Tonja Garafolo, the wife of Brad Garafolo, took the podium after Biden. Lynch called her meeting with four of Alton Sterling’s five children and their mothers a “condolence call”. “We already got the guy who did it, but we think that he probably didn’t work alone so we’re looking into you two'”. That Sunday morning was no exception, she said. When she saw that Airline Highway was blocked off she had been on her way to take their vehicle into the shop to get it looked over because when her husband got off work they were set to head off for vacation. She said she is confident that the ceremony will help unite a community that has been grappling with racial tensions. You knew him. He was the boy with the most courage and the most compassion.
Alexander said that they were intimidated into relinquishing their phones.
Gerald was a former Marine and Army veteran who served three tours in Iraq before joining the police force nine months ago. “The love Matt had for the police department was beyond words”, Gerald said. She added that she was “able to stand” there in front of everyone only “because of the “gracious support everyone in this room has given us”. Jackson left behind a 4-month-old baby son. The man with the courageous heart and the generous soul, whose words are always encouraged. “My husband was a rare diamond”. “I was not even allowed to see him at the hospital. It was an honor to represent our little part of the country”.
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The problem, is that bigger cities are forced to put thousands of men in uniform to protect their streets, which often results in lower standards than we have in this area, according to Smith. Lynch said it can feel as if the world is “broken beyond repair” after tragedies like the deadly shootout in Baton Rouge. On Thursday, at the memorial service for the fallen officers, she met with the families of the three officers as well as Deputy Nick Tullier’s father.
