The mother of Sterling’s child called the killings, a “despicable act of violence”.
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Ten days later in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, three police officers were killed in a similar attack by a gunman who was also, horribly, out for the same revenge. “It is chilling in the sheer brutality of the shooting”, Edmonson told reporters.
Obama said there is great interest among police departments nationwide in receiving additional training to deal with active-shooter events and to decrease tensions before violence occurs, but that more resources will be necessary.
At a press conference on Monday East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux said Tullier was in a “very, very critical condition”.
Mr Obama telephoned the families of the Baton Rouge officers on Monday to offer his and the first lady’s condolences. Jackson was black, as was the gunman.
“In uniform I get nasty, hateful looks and out of uniform some consider me a threat”, he wrote shortly after Alton Sterling was fatally shot by police outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge.
That shooting, on July 5, was partly recorded on a video that was widely viewed online. They didn’t run, they didn’t go in the other direction.
And Sunday in Wichita, Kansas, what was originally planned as a protest march against police turned into a cookout after protest organizers and the police chief decided that sitting down together and breaking bread was a better way to open up communication and build trust.
Portraits of the three slain Baton Rouge officers were front and center at a vigil inside a church Tuesday night.
“It is time. It is far past time for those of you in law enforcement to join with other responsible Americans and take on the mindless, industry-driven gun lobby that values an illogical individual ability to possess military-grade weapons more than the lives of the American people in general and our law enforcement personnel in particular”.
As they disclosed details about the attack during a news conference Monday afternoon, authorities were struggling to untangle Long’s motivation.
Long killed Baton Rouge Police officers Montrell Jackson, 32, who has a wife and four-month-old son, and former Marine Matthew Gerald, 41, a married father-of-two.
Long stalked the area, searching, as more 911 calls poured in and officers arrived. But court officials said he never completed the process of legally changing his name. “He was articulate in all manners of engagement”.
Based on the Cosmo Setepenra persona found online, Mark Pitcavage, an Anti-Defamation League expert on extremist groups, said it appears obvious that Long was influenced by the sovereign citizens movement to some degree.
Long received a degree from a community college, Central Texas College. He attended the school at a site it had at a Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego, and through online education between 2007 and 2011.
In other online posts and videos attributed to Long he railed against police abuse of blacks.
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President Barack Obama says the nation will get through the recent killings of police officers with the “love and empathy of public servants” like the ones who were targeted in recent days.
